The Abnormality Of Alice
by Squeaker-Dee
Summary: Ed and Al are pulled away from their journey to find the philosophers stone to escort a girl safely out of the country. But, with a girl who is overly hyperactive and hard to control, this safe trip will just become a whole new adventure. R&R please!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer; Anything FMA related belong to Hiromu Arakawa. Alice Anderson, James Anderson, Clive Robinson and this story belong to me! No steal!

Enjoy !

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**Prologue;**

The crash thundered through the air from inside the gothic, gray and gloomy mansion. Roy Mustang, The Flame Alchemist, marched inside, panic covering his flushed features. He was followed closely by the team of soldiers he was assigned with to find and arrest the sick and twisted Mr. James Anders who lurked somewhere in his mansion.

"Damn!" The colonel cursed, holding his gloved hand up in front of him. "Where the hell is he!?" He snapped, looking sharply over his shoulder at the men behind himself. They all either looked around or simply shook their heads. "Well look harder! We need to find him, fast!" The soldiers all glanced around in a blind panic. Roy murmured unreadable curses as he stormed forward, much faster than the other soldiers. _Damn, damn, damn!_ he kicked everything in sight mentally, he needed to find this man before-

The scream that slithered like a serpent to the soldiers set them all quiet. In unison, they all looked at the grand pair of doors at the end of the crimson hall-way. "There!" Roy yelled, sprinting towards the doors, closely followed by his men. Kicking the door open, Roy ran inside, only to stop dead at the sight in the middle of the empty, monstrous room.

The old man, , was knelt on the floor, holding the petrified statue in his arms. "So... this is what its like" he muttered in a gruff tone, his white hair clinging to his sweat-ridden skin. The statue he held was one of a women, her hands clawed at her face, her mouth and eyes wide open, a picture of pure horror written in her features. Roy growled deeply. "We're too late" He grumbled. He stalked forward until he got to the man, his fingers poised above his head.

Mr. Anderson looked back over his shoulder. His mouth spread into a malice filled grin and tears stung at his eyes. "He-Hello, Mr. Mustang. H-How do you like my new garden feature? Quite the terrifying, no?" He cackled madly, stroking the statues dead cheek with one hand whilst the other was clasped around something in his palm. Roy grunted. "You turned your own wife into stone, you sick bastard" Roy muttered, his fingers itching to snap. Mr. Anderson clamped his lips shut, his smile tickling his face. "Oh yes. Oh, yes, yes. I **am** sick. WAH-HAHAHAHAHAHA!" He threw the frozen body aside, spinning around to Mustang. He pointed at his wide and insane eyes. "**I** did this. It was** me, **what are you going to do about it!? I made my bed and am willing to lay down in it! After all, I did what I wanted to do!"

Anderson held out his arms. "So, take me away then, my saviour!" he cackled, causing Roy to stammer back. The alchemist shuddered for a moment before noticing the mans hand was still clasped around something. "Whats in your hand!? Open it, slowly!" Roy ordered, nodding his head at the men behind him. The soldiers stiffened up before running over to Anderson and restraining him. Anderson obeyed, he opened his withered hand and a small, red object fell from it, rolling across the floor and landing at Roy's feet. Roy felt his face tense at the sight. He abruptly bent down and scooped the object up. "Is this a phil-"

"Oh no, on the contrary. It is an incomplete stone. I used it to turn my wife into a lovely decoration... Heeee... Tell me something Mr. Mustang,"

Roy glanced from the stone and to the man, not saying a word.

"Would it matter to you, if someone you hold dear got hurt?"

Roy glared at the man, before turning away from him. He didn't answer. He didn't feel the need to, after all, the answer should be obvious to any human being. "Take him away"

"I love my daughter you know, " Anderson stated, completely out of the blue. Roy froze, his whole body tensed up. _Wait-His daughter!_ Roy whipped around to face the old man. "Where is she!?" he snapped, marching forward and gripping onto the mans shirt. "I love her so very much, my precious, my angel, my little princess-"

"Where is she!?" Roy repeated in a much more threatening voice. He curled his fist, prepped to punch when he noticed the brown bundle on the floor behind Anderson and his men. Lowering his fist, Roy stormed past Anderson and to the bundle. As he came closer, he noticed that the bundle was in fact shivering. He bent down beside it and gently pulled the covers away. Roy's eyes widened when he saw the child beneath the sheets, arms and legs bound and a gag around her mouth. She looked up at the colonel with frightened eyes. Roy spun his head round to the old man.

"What the hell-"

"Yes, I do love my little girl, oh so very-"

"Get him the hell out of here!"

"Yes sir!"

Roy turned back to the girl, helping her sit up, he untied her and pulled the gag away. She gasped loudly, curling up into a tight ball and staring up at Mustang with hurt eyes. Roy held the girl in his arms, somewhat unsure as to what to do. He felt her shivering against him, the thin, cream dress clearly not keeping any warmth in. The colonel pulled off his trench coat and placed it on her shoulders. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" he looked down at the child as she shook her head. Roy sighed as he gathered the girl in his arms as he stood up.

The child clutched onto his shoulder, shaking violently. "What's your name?" Roy asked softly, keeping the girl close in order to keep her as warm as possible. She gulped hard before answering. "A-Al... Alice" she whimpered and buried her head into Roy's chest. Roy blinked, still unsure as what to do. He wasn't really a great father figure, if Hawkeye was with him at this moment in time, it would be fine, Hawkeye would know what she was doing, she was quite a motherly figure when it came to cases involving children after all. But Hawkeye wasn't here and Mustang was stuck with this child until he could find someone to look after her.

He stalked rapidly out of the building, not wanting to keep Alice there any longer. Once outside, he could see his men loading Anderson into the back of a car, ready to take him away. Upon noticing Mustang, one soldier marched over, followed by another man dressed in a smart suit and top hat. "Colonel Mustang, sir!," the soldier saluted, "this man claims to be-"

"Oh please, I'll handle this" The man in the top hat patted the soldier on the shoulder being gesturing him to go away. The soldier nodded before wondering aimlessly back to the car. The man chuckled, lifting up his hat politely. "Hello, Colonel. My name is Clive, Clive Robinson. I work at the Amestris Dramatics Club, well, travelling club anyway" Clive looked down at Alice, who was now squirming Mustangs arms to get to him. Clive opened his arms to her. "Hey kiddo"

Roy noticed Alice trying to reach for him, he looked up at Clive cautiously. "You know her?" Clive nodded, smiling brightly. He ran a gloved finger through his brown hair. "Yeah, I'm her coach. She comes to my club when we're not travelling, which is a lot when we stop here in the east. I heard that something was going on at her house and so I thought I would see what the problem was, so I... Where's Carol anyway? I haven't seen her yet"

Roy pulled a sympathetic face as he felt Alice go limp. "Carol passed away, I'm sorry" Roy bowed his head respectfully. Clive's smile faded. "Oh... I see, her father got arrested, yes?" Clive's hazel eyes wondered up from the floor and to Roy. Roy nodded sharply. "Yes. And his daughter needs someone to care for her" Roy glanced at Alice who was staring at Clive, a desperate look shone in her crystal eyes. Clive smirked. "I'll take care of her! She can travel with me! I don't mind! I'm piratically a father to all the other kids who come along with me!"

Roy's eyes wondered up in a thoughtful manor. "Well-" he was cut off when he felt a tug on his shirt, he looked down to find Alice pulling on his clothes and staring at him with pleading puppy eyes. Roy sighed, smiling at the girl. "Fine." The girl nodded happily, giving Roy a brief hug before jumping out of his arms and running into Clive's. Her pale and thin arms wrapped around Clive's stomach as she burried her head into it. Roy raised a brow at the girl, his finger resting on his chin. _She seems a little happy to be leaving her old life just like that. What happened to make her so grateful about leaving?_

"Mr. Robinson" Roy placed his hand by his side as Clive's attention was brought back to him. "Just call me Clive. What's the matter?"

"If you don't mind, I would like to talk to you about what you heard about what was happening here..."

I hope you enjoyed it! It was a nightmare writing it! (stupid computer kept bloody deleting it!) I'll update this after only two, that's right guys, TWO reviews. Why you ask? Because two is a very good number and I must say I like it!

TTFN

(Review!)

X.


	2. Paper Aeroplanes And Phantom Armours

Disclaimer; Anything FMA related belong to H.A (Too lazy to write out her full name now) Alice Robinson and story belongs to me, oh and the places that Roy is talking about, they belong to me to... I guess (Un-scramble "Daglanne'" and it spells England, lol)

Enjoy :)----wait a minute------

**READ THIS!!!!!!!! ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;  
**

**OK GUYS! I KNOW I SAID AFTER TWO REVIEWS I'LL UPDATE! BUT TO BE HONEST, I COULDN'T WAT TO PUT THIS CHAPTER UP 'CAUSE I LIKE IT! BUT THIS TIME I MEAN IT! AFTER TWO (OR MORE, HINT, HINT) I'LL UPDATE, I'LL JUST FORCE MYSELF TO HAVE LESS FUN WRITING THE NEXT CHAPTER! OK!? OK!**

Now enjoy :)

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**Chapter One; Paper Aeroplanes And Phantom Armours.**

_Seven years later..._

**"WHAT!?"**

Edward Elric slammed his hands down on the desk, leaning forward, his teeth bared. Roy sighed, examining his nails. "I want you to escort someone out of the country, safely might I add?" Roy smirked when he heard the growl erupt from the older Elric's throat. Slumping back in the chair behind himself, Ed folded his arms and scoffed. "We can't afford that, _colonel_, if you have or haven't forgotten, me and Al are busy looking for the philosophers stone!" The Fullmetal Alchemist snapped, glaring at Mustang.

Roy rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore the stubborn boy. "She needs to get to the town of Sunkolic by the end of the month before she misses her ship to Daglanne', understood?" Ed shot up to his feet, slamming his automail fist on the desk yet again. "_No_. I _don't_," Ed retreated back, "I don't understand why the hell you can't get someone else to go on this wild goose chase!"

"Its no chase, its an escort"

"Like** I **care!"

Roy closed his eyes patiently. "Look Fullmetal, it wont take you too long. Its a five day journey by train and I'll even give you a permit to take any books on the stone in any libraries you happen to pass when on route, how about it?" Roy's smirk widened as Ed looked thoughtful at the offer. The alchemist fell back into his chair. He remained there, completely silent for a moment.

**"No."** He spat venomously, pushing himself up from his seat. "Get someone else to do it, I'm too busy trying to get my little brothers body back, _if you don't mind_" Ed purposely made his last words drip with the most corrosive acid his tone could muster before he turned from the colonel. Roy shook his head, raising up from his own seat. "Fullmetal, I need _you_ to escort her there. Everyone else is a bit busy trying to make sure that Scar doesn't get his hands on any more alchemists, like _you_. Besides, I can ensure you that this little trip will be very... different from what you're used to"

Ed turned to face Mustang with a suspicious look. "What do you mean, _different_?" He noticed Roy rub his temples and his body shudder a little. "Believe me, it just will be" The Flame Alchemist straightened up upon noticing Ed watching him. His eye twitched at Ed who had a smug look across his features. Pointing a strong finger towards the door, Roy glared at Fullmetal. "Go down the hall-way until you come to the second from last door on your left, you'll see what I mean"

Ed arched a brow at Mustang. "I'll go to that room, but I'm still not going to escort this girl"

"JUST GO FULLMETAL!" Roy barked, shooing the alchemist away. Ed grinned darkly over seeing Roy stress out completely. The colonel watched Ed intently as he turned and marched out. Roy could see the smug look on the boys face, even when he left the room altogether. Resting his brow against the back of his hand, Roy stared down at the pile of unsigned papers before him. "Oh, today's going to be fun"

---

Ed stalked down the hall until he came to the door Mustang ordered him to go to. Golden eyes examined the door briefly, a simple wooden door with the numbers "137" sketched into a gold bar sat at the top, mocking Ed for having to tilt his head back to see it. He glared at the number plate. "I'll be eye-level with you one day punk" He muttered, before pushing the door open.

There wasn't much at all in the room; a simple desk with no one sat at it, a couple of book-shelves, filled to the brim with several different titles and a window, where she sat. Her hair reached down past her hips, white-blonde in color. Her skin was pale, dotted with a few freckles here and there. A red and white kimono hung loosely around her body, except round her waist where a pink ribbon was tied around it. This girl-whoever she was-seemed quite content on looking out the window and down onto the busy streets of Central.

Ed blinked. _I'm-no-someone is meant to escort her? Whats wrong with Mustang? She seems pretty normal. _Ed stepped into the room, closing the door behind himself. The girl heard him shut the door and spun her head around to see him. Dirty brown freckles dotted under her blue eyes and across her nose. She blinked at Ed, her face filled with curiosity. Ed scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say. "So," he walked over to her, "are you the girl heading out of the country?" He asked politely, trying to make small talk so his presence had some meaning.

The girl nodded, smiling brightly. "Sure am!" she sang, jumping from the ledge where she sat. Ed stared in awe; she was small, maybe a bit smaller then himself. He grinned at the thought. His grin disappeared in a flash when a hand smacked against his forehead. He blinked before narrowing his eyes at the girl who had one hand on his brow and the other on hers. "Wh-What are you doing?"

"Hrmm," she hummed thoughtfully, her mouth twisting into a small frown. "I think, yes I'm right!" She pulled her hand away, smiling at him again. Ed folded his arms. "Right about what?" The girl grinned, jumping up and down on the spot. Ed's lip twitched as he watched the girl jump up and spin around insanely on the spot. She then placed her hand on his head, eyes closed. "I'm a little bit taller!" she said in a sing-song tone. Ed growled. "WHO-ARE-YOU-CALLING-SO-SMALL-THAT-THE-NUMBER-ON-THE-DOOR-LOOKS-DOWN-ON-HIM-AND-LAUGHS!?" He ranted, panting at the end.

"Are you finished yet mister?" the girl pouted innocently, her finger resting on her lower lip. Ed shook his fist, glaring darkly at the girl. "Oh wouldn't you like to know" he murmured, the girl obviously did not catch his threat as she twirled around. "So, what's your name!?" She asked, leaning forward, inches from Ed's face. The alchemist jumped back, holding up his hands defensively. "What?" The girl jumped back. "You don't know your own name!? How horrible!" Before the boy could react, the girl had wrapped an arm around his neck and leaned on his shoulder. "Don't fear! For I-Alice Robinson-shall help you remember who you are!"

Ed pushed the girl, now known as Alice, away and stammered towards the door. "What? Are you nuts!? I know who I am! I'm Edward Elric!" Ed snapped, bewildered by the girls reaction. Alice's shoulders lowered a little. "Wow... Fast work," she pumped a fist into the air, "yay! I did it! I did it!" she squealed, jumping in circles around Ed. "I helped someone remember who they are in two seconds flat! Go me!"

Ed fell to the floor, landing on his tailbone. "Ho-How old are you?" he stuttered, a million sweat-drops caressing his head. The girl stopped dead in front of him. "Me? I'm fourteen, silly! Why do you ask!?" Ed gawked. _There's no way on this planet she's fourteen. Maybe like, oh I don't know, three years old then yeah! There's no way a fourteen year old would act so... _Ed watched as Alice hopped up onto the desk, trying her hardest to touch the ceiling that sat miles above her head. _Childish..._

Ed jumped up from where he was sat, spun around and marched back to Mustang's office. On arrival, the alchemist kicked the door open. "Mustang!"  
"Oh, OK then Ed, _don't_ knock" Roy frowned, placing his pen beside the pile of papers before him. He weaved his fingers together, smirking at Ed. "What do you think, Fullmetal?" Roy chuckled at Ed's twitching eye, "quite the challenge?" Ed ran forward, grabbing Roy by the front of his shirt and pulling him as he stood up in the seat before the desk. "Challenge!? Challenge!? I'm not, I repeat, **not **escorting anyone! Especially someone like **her**!" he snapped, glaring daggers at the colonel. Roy sighed, tugging Ed's hands off his shirt. "Calm down, Fullmetal. Its only for a few days-"

"A few!? A few!? **Five** freakin' days Colonel!"

"-you wont even notice that she's ther-"

Roy stopped, his smirk fading and his eyes narrowed. Ed shuddered as he looked back over his shoulder. There she was, Alice, with lieutenant Hawkeye behind her. The small blonde held a paper aeroplane in hand, moving it around making a loud, "vvvvvrrrr", sound. Ed turned back to the colonel, holding his hands in Alice's direction. "I wont notice _that_!?" Roy opened his mouth to talk, but closed it when Hawkeye stepped forward.

"With all due respect, Fullmetal, like you, we also have work that needs to be done. We cannot afford this trip, whereas you can, so you **are** going to escort this girl whether you like it or not" Ed backed away when he saw the very dangerous glint in the lieutenant's eye as her hand rested on her gun. He glanced over to Roy, shaking his head at him. "I'm going to kill you for this" he mouthed to him, before storming past Hawkeye and to the girl. "We'll go right away" he muttered, a regretful tone echoed in his voice.

Ed looked at the girl, who was clearly enjoying herself. "Where's your stuff?" Alice kept on making the noise she was making for the plane and pointed over her shoulder to the rucksack she was carrying. Ed glanced back over his shoulder, seeing Hawkeye's evil glare at him. He gulped hard and held out a hand. "I'll carry it for you" he murmured. Alice didn't make any signs to object as she dumped on bag to his arm.

"Lets go then"

"Vrrrr-Ok then-vrrrrr"

Ed gave the pair of military dogs a worried look before slamming the door shut behind himself. Hawkeye sighed on the alchemists leave, she turned to Roy. "Sir," she began, not even getting a look from the colonel. Roy snickered. "I just want him to take a little break is all, can't have him tired from researching the philosophers stone if I need him can I?" Roy hummed a tune as he picked up his pen and reluctantly signed the papers. Riza peered over her shoulder at the door. "Understood sir"

---

Ed muttered curses under his breath as they left HQ and came onto the streets of Central. The alchemist felt a small glimmer of hope as he saw his younger brother, Alphonse, sat patiently waiting on a bench near by. Al stood up when he noticed his brother leave the building. "Brother, what took you so long, I thought you were only reporting to the Colonel-" Al stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the girl-who still seemed very content with her plane-stood behind Ed. "Oh, whose this brother?" Al asked, receiving a dreaded look from his brother.

Ed pointed to the girl. "This is Alice. Mustang said he wants me to escort her to some place called `Sunkolic`, he said she needs to catch some ship there" Al noticed the sorrow in his brothers voice. The suit of armour lent down to his brothers height. "What about the... you know?"

"Mustang said that hes giving us a permit to get books from any library on the way" Ed snapped back in a hushed tone. Al rose to his own height and stepped over to the girl. Alice stopped flying her plane when the armours shadow fell over her. "Oh?" she squeaked. "Hello, my name is Alphonse, Alphonse Elric" Al bowed politely at the girl. Alice screamed before she scampered behind Ed, clutching onto his shoulder. Ed flinched, shocked from the sudden contact. "The hells your problem!?" Alice pointed at Al. "You never told me you stole a possessed suit of armour from a haunted castle" she muttered. Ed rolled his eyes. "Al's **not **from a haunted castle, Alice" Ed pushed the girl away, crossing his arms over his chest.

Alice shook her head and pointed her finger at Ed. "No! Haven't you heard the stories of the "Phantom Armour"?"

"The whody-what-what?"

Alice jumped forward, her finger pressing against Ed's nose. "They say the armour lives in a haunted castle and he sacrifices anyone who dares to enter for his master, the evil green dragon! Wooo-oo-oo!" Alice lowered her finger and turned to Al, holding out her hand. "Its nice to meet you, Mr. Phantom Armour Guy!" Al hesitated before taking the girls hand. "Um, yeah. S-Same to you" Al released the girl and turned back to his brother. "We have to escort **her**? Shes a little... well..." Al asked, watching the girl over his shoulder as she flung herself into a nearby bush and began to pretend the "tree monster" was pulling her in. Ed groaned and rubbed the back of his head. "Sadly enough"

The alchemist marched over to the bush, hands on his hips. Alice reached out for him. "Halp! I'm being pulled in! Halp!" She begged, fake tears filling up in her eyes. Ed grabbed her hand and dragged her out. "You're not getting pulled in by anything" He let her go and stalked away. "C'mon, lets get going. We'll pack up and then catch the next train, the sooner we leave, the sooner we get back" He told Al as he passed him. Al nodded, turning to leave when he felt a tug on his arm. He looked down to see Alice holding onto him.

"Mr. Phantom Armour Guy," she looked up at him with wide eyes, "will you do the honour of giving me a piggy-back-ride?" Al chuckled nervously at the girl. "Um, sure. I guess..." he crouched down in front of the girl as she hopped up onto his back. Al looped his arms around her legs and ran to catch up with his brother, Alice squealing all the while.

Ed smacked himself in the face. "This sure is going to be a _long, long_ trip..."

---

Riza watched out of the window as she saw the group of three stalk off somewhere. She turned back to Roy. "Did you contact Clive, sir?" Roy leaned back in his chair. "Yes, Clive knows. I made sure to tell him before I asked Fullmetal, don't worry about it"

Riza stepped before Roy, her face filled with concern. "Sir, I know that she'll be safe with Fullmetal, but what if-"

"Don't talk nonsense, Hawkeye," Roy looked up at the lieutenant and smirked, "I guarantee you, she'll be fine in Fullmetal's hands"

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Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I sure did!

I was listening to the song "Just The Way I am" by Skye Sweetnam, the song suits Alice quite a bit actually. But yes, hoped you liked it and I hope to see ya'll again soon, after another two (or more, hint, hint) reviews. And **YES **I mean it this time! (growls at myself for updating it early)

TTFN

X.


	3. Insanity Of Train Swinging

Disclaimer; Anything FMA related belongs to H.A, Alice and story Belong to me!

Enjoy!

**Chapter Two; Insanity Of Train Swinging.  
**

The train hummed soundlessly as it glided over the tracks and through the grassy plains not too far from Central. Ed and Al both sat opposite each other, Ed leaning against the window, his gold hair drifting in the light breeze from the opened window. Al sat with his hands rested between his knees, his red eyes fixed on the girl who sat across the isle from the brothers, leaning out of the window and waving madly to any one she noticed in the mass of green. The youngest Elric had tried again and again to tell Alice that it was dangerous to lean out of the window like that, but did she listen? No.

Sighing, Al turned to Edward. "How long till we reach our stop in Rush Valley? That is where we're going, right?" Ed snorted, pushing himself up into a more comfortable position. "Well I'm not prepared to go to Dublith straight away, I don't feel ready to face teacher again yet" Al nodded eagerly. "Same here brother"

"Whoa! Hell-oo-o-o-oo!" Alice screamed to an old couple who were busy working on their farm. Her bright eyes managed to just catch their waves before the train took her away from them. Ed groaned, rubbing his forehead stress-fully. "When Mustang said `different`, I thought he meant that we could relax a little, but obviously I was wrong" He murmured, his body shaking violently as he heard the girl squeal some more. "She's so freakin' loud!" He complained, pulling his coat over his head; trying to block out the noise. Al shook his head slowly. "Please brother. She isn't _that_," he turned his head towards her as she screamed a `heart-warming` "Hello" to the people outside. "... Bad"

"Hey-yaaa-aahhh!"

"...I beg to differ"

"Brother! Please!"

Ed dragged his coat away, seeing it had no effect in blocking out Alice's ear-splitting screams. He smacked the side of his head, trying to use pain as a remedy to ignore Alice. "I still don't get why someone else could have done this job" he rubbed his soar ears tenderly. The brothers remained silent for a while. Ed stared out the window, trying any technique possible to ignore Alice. On-the-other-hand, Al kept on checking on Alice, making that she was OK, it was their job to make sure that she was safe on the journey after all.

Al looked down at his hands as his thumbs fiddled at the awkward silence, well apart from Alice making a racket. "So," he began, turning to Alice, knowing that his brother was in no mood for talking as of now, "why do you need to go to Daglanne'?" Al shuffled over-as much as he could-to the end of the seat, staring at Alice.

The girl spun her head around smiling brightly at him. Her hair flew over to the window, being caught in the wind and dragged outside, creating a blonde curtain. Now that her hair was temporarily away from her back, Al could see the new outfit she decided to wear for the journey; a simple pink T-shirt, denim short with straps looping over her shoulders and brown shoes.

"I don't wanna tell yah!" She yelled playfully, spinning back to the window. Al remained there, completely dumbfounded for a moment, before he turned back to Edward, who exchanged no looks to his younger brother. "Um, so, brother. Do you think th-" Al was cut off when a high pitched scream rumbled through the air. Ed growled, his hands flying in the air. "That's it!" he yelled, shooting up like a bullet from his seat and storming over to the isle beside Alice's seat. "What's your problem!? Screaming like that every five minutes! I mean seri-"

"That wasn't me Mr. Tiny" she hushed, leaning further out of the window. Ed's fist shook and teeth bared. His mouth open to rant but closed when Alice suddenly threw herself from the train. He stared at the empty spot for a moment, before his instincts kicked in and he jumped up onto the window, one foot on the red seat and on other on the ledge. Al raced over to his brother. "Ed! What did you do!? Where's Alice!?" Ed made no attempt to answer as he to jumped from the window. Al gasped and leaned out, trying to see what was going on.

He watched as both Ed and Alice rolled down the steep hill beside the train-tracks. He noticed Ed try to force himself to stop and get up onto his feet whereas Alice kept on rolling. Ed then clapped his hands and planted them on the ground, blue sparks zooming towards Alice. Al's eyes followed the sparks and saw the deep, black ditch that Alice was rolling to. In less than a second, a large stone wall appeared before her, stopping her dead as her small body slammed into it.

Al gulped hard, not wanting to make any more hesitation, he also flung himself from the train, only just managing to catch his footing-and his head-as he skidded to a stop rather than rolling. "Alice!" He yelled running quickly yet carefully to the dazed girl. He bent down beside her, shaking her shoulder. "Alice, are you all right!?" The blonde looked up at him with swirls for eyes. "All I see is pretty pink ponies" she stated, Ed scoffed. "She's OK then" The alchemist glared daggers at Alice as Al helped her sit up.

"What the hell were you thinking!? You could have got us all _killed_ then!" He shouted, rage dripping from his voice. Alice shook her head and slapped her temples a few times, snapping herself out of her dazed state. "But I didn't did I!?" she sang, jumping to her feet, hands clasped together behind her back. Ed marched forward to her, fists clenched by his sides. "But you could have! If I didn't put that wall there you would have gone splat into that ditch!" he retorted. Alice ignored him, placing her hand on her brow as she looked around. "I wonder who screamed" she pondered. Ed grunted. "It was probably part of your very vivid imagination"

Alice wriggled a finger at him. "When you wet the bed in your sleep isn't part of your imagination is it?" Ed's whole body twitched. "The hell has _that_ got to do with anything!? And I **DON'T** wet the bed!" Ed stepped forward dangerously, with a threatening glint in his eye. Al rushed between the two, holding up his hands in their faces. "All right, lets calm down now. We need to figure some things out first, like who did scream" Ed's dark expression faded into a more straight and serious one as he looked around, seeing nothing and no one but the long grassy land, the farm they passed earlier in the near distance. "No one scr-"

"Oh my, did you hear me scream?" A cool, chilling voice called from behind Ed. The alchemist squeaked, jumping away from the being behind him, his hands held up defensivly. Behind him stood a women-of about 40 or 50-holding a basket of bread. "Yes, that was me. I, uh, well... Slipped and nearly fell into the ditch. I was heading for the farm over there you see" the women explained, adjusting her filth-ridden glasses. Ed nodded at the women before sending Alice a death glare.

"I saw you three jump from the train, I didn't realise that it was for _my_ sake. Oh, I'm so sorry!" she bowed apologetically. "Is there any way I could return the favor?" she asked, eyes gleaming. Ed's brow furrowed and hand rested on his chin, golden orbs drifted up in thought. "Yeah, actually. There is..."

---

_"Its nice to finally be hearing from you again, Roy. How are you?"_

Roy smirked. "I'm just fine, thank you Mr. Robinson, yourself?"

There was a chuckle on the other end of the phone. _"How many times, Roy? Call me Clive! And, yes I'm just fine thank you. Any news from Fullmetal and Alice yet?"_

"No, not yet," Roy glanced down at the pile of papers before him, his hand sliding the ones at the top aside, revealing a document at the bottom. "Although, I have heard some news about `you know what`"

_"... Is that so?"_

"Don't fret too much Clive. We're tracking this tiger down"

_"I should hope so too. I cannot afford to loose her, you know what I'm like with kids Roy"_

A warm smile crept across Roy's face as he pulled a drawer from his desk open, to find a photo of himself and Mae's Hughes sat inside. "You have no idea"

_"Hm... Well, I better be going Roy; places to go, people to see. You know the drill"_

Roy slid the drawer shut. "Understood"

_"Oh, and if you do hear anything from Alice, please contact me as soon as possible, I gave you all the addresses of the hotels I'll be staying at, right?"_

"Yes you did, and don't worry, if Fullmetal contacts me, you'll be the first person to know"

_"Thanks Roy, I owe you one"_

"Yes you do"

Another chuckle sounded from the phone. _"I'll see you later then, Roy"_

"Goodbye Clive"

The colonel slammed the phone down on the receiver, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. He stared up at lieutenant Hawkeye with concern. "You wanted to speak with me, lieutenant?" he sighed, his eyes sliding shut. Riza nodded sharply. "Yes sir," she pulled out a large brown envelope from under her arm and placed it on the colonel's desk. Roy hesitated for a moment before reaching for the package, opening it momentarily. Roy's eyes widened as he scanned the page over and over again. "This can't be right"

"I found it hard to believe too sir, but its true. We found the body and everything"

Roy cursed under his breath, rubbing sourly at the bridge of his nose. "It seems we have more than one cat chasing our mouse..."

---

"Thank you very much for lending us a room for the night, Mrs. Kay!" Ed chirped happily as he chewed greedily on the tender meat that had been served for dinner at the farm. The old and gray women chuckled. "Oh its fine dear, after hearing your concern for my dear Emily, I have no choice in the matter really" her beady eyes turned to Al, noticing that he hadn't made any move to touch his food. "Not hungry dear?" she asked, catching Al's attention. "Oh... Um, yeah. I'm full! I already had some food before we got on the train" he lied, a sweat-drop sliding down his armour head.

The women nodded intently, the plate she was scrubbing in hand only got dirtier from the old sponge she was using. "Oh," she glanced up and down the table. "Where's your friend?" she asked, turning to the sink behind herself and dumping the plate into the soapy water. Ed chewed harder on his meat. "Probably on the moon by now"

"Brother" Al snapped, not liking his sarcastic tone. Ed shot Al a glance. "Al, shes completely insane! She jumped from a train, a **train**, Al! Just because someone slipped on a wet blade of grass!" Ed shouted, stuffing more meat into his mouth stubbornly. "But brother-"

"I mean seriously, who would throw themselves from a train for that!?" Ed scarped his knife against the meat until it squeaked painfully as it made contact with the plate below. "She's absolutely mental! I can't wait until we get rid of her"  
"Brother! That's a bit harsh! We barely know her"

"We don't even need to get to know her Al! I can sum her up right here and now! Shes hyperactive, childish and a completely mad girl, who needs to learn what the world is really like!" Ed ranted, taking mean mouthfuls of meat all the while. Al shook his head and held his fists in front of his chest-plate. "Brother, shes a kid still-"

"Al, shes fourteen! Last time I checked, fourteen year old girls **don't **throw themselves from trains!"

Al rose to his feet, his fists shaking. "Brother stop being so insensitive! We hardly know her! We only just met her, how can you just judge her like that!" Ed remained silent as he stuffed more food in his mouth. Al pushed the chair away roughly and stormed to the door. He quickly turned and bowed to the old women at the sink. "Thank you for the food, even though I didn't eat it, Mrs. Kay" The women nodded briefly, still content in washing the dishes.

Al opened the door before marching out and slamming it behind himself. The armoured teen came straight to the great outdoors, the sky cloud free and dotted with millions of stars. That's what was great about the country, no light pollution to block away the star light. Al spotted a familiar blonde girl sat on a pile of cubed hay, on foot sat on the edge whilst the other dangled freely. Her elbow rested on her knee and chin on her palm, she stared silently at the shining plain.

Stepping slowly forward, Al went up to the girl sat on the hay. "Hey," Al muttered, stepping beside the girls dangling foot. Alice looked down at him, a small plaster (band aid) sat across her nose. "Hello there Mr. Phantom Armour Guy!" She welcomed, waving her free hand and smiling brightly. Al rubbed the neck of his neck. "Please, just call me Al"

"But Mr. Phantom Armour Guy is so much better!" she protested, her foot tapping against his helmet lightly. Although Al didn't feel it, he still rubbed the spot where she hit it. "I think its cool! Why can't you!?" she puffed her cheeks. She brought her other foot up, resting her other elbow on her knee and placing her face in both of her hands, pouting childishly. Al sighed, slumping down on the ground, his legs crossed and hands resting in the gap in the middle. "Well... I guess its pretty cool" he muttered, getting a wide grin as a reward from the girl. "That's the spirit, Mr. Phantom Armour Guy!" She pushed herself up so she was standing, hands on her hips.

"I want to meet Winry!" She announced out of the blue. Al flinched, looking up at her. "What? How did you-?"  
"I heard you and Mr. Tiny talking about her on the way here" She plonked herself down on the hay again, landing clean on her rear. "You were saying that you were wondering how she is, right?" she asked, leaning forward a little to see Al more clearly. Al looked up at her and then back down at the ground. "Yeah, we always do"

"Then why not go and see her!? I can meet her then!" She let herself fall from the hay and land beside Al. She tapped her index finger against the alchemic symbol on his shoulder. The tap echoed through Al's entire body, making him want to shudder, but he held it back by turning his head to Alice. Still holding her finger up, she smiled widely at Al, her eyes closing. "C'mon! It'll be fun and besides, there's still a few days until I need to catch that ship! Even if I miss it, I can catch another one later, right?" She tilted her head to the side. Al thought on it for a moment.

Should they go? Its not like they'll be able to catch the train to Rush Valley again anytime soon, right? Like Alice said, it was a while before the end of the month, what harm could it bring?

"Why do you need to go to Daglanne' again?"

"I don't wanna tell yah, Mr. Phantom Armour Guy! You or Mr. Tiny!" She squealed, and angered scream slithering from the house.

* * *

Yay! I hope you had fun reading this as much as I did writing it! He-He, Ed doesn't seem to like Alice too much at the moment and Al just wants her to be safe and happy (Note; Al is a FRIEND! Nothing more)

R&R please.

Oh and from now on, I'll be updating sort of... whenever, so yeah.

I'll be seeing you after I write the next chapter!!!!!

TTFN

X.


	4. The Crow's Bark

Disclaimer; Anything FMA related belongs to H.A, Alice, Mrs. Kay and story belong to me.

Enjoy :).

* * *

**Chapter Three; The Crows Bark.**

"But why noo-oo-oot?" Alice moaned, her legs swinging around madly as she perched herself up on the top bunk. Ed drilled a finger into his ear, his eyes closed. "Because I said so and we need to get to Rush Valley to catch the next train there,  
_that's_ why" He explained, slumping down on the bottom bunk. "I don't see why_ you_ care about meeting Winry anyway"

Alice giggled, sliding from her bunk and landing in front of Ed with a soft, _thud_, her arms crossed over her small chest. She smiled at him, her brows twitching. "Because she sounds cool and I wanna meet her..." she answered, leaning forward a little, making sure that Ed wouldn't be able to escape. Ed scoffed, lying down on the bed on his side, facing away from her. "She isn't cool when smashing your skull in with a wrench" Ed muttered, receiving a confused, "hm?", from Alice.

"Look," he began, looking over his shoulder at Alice. "My job is to take you to Sunkolic on time, that's it. No train jumping. No screaming at random people. And NO making friends with people who you probably wont see again. That's it, got it? Good. Can I sleep now!?" he snapped, grabbing the covers and pulling them over his head. Alice frowned. She opened her mouth and began to whine like a dog. She noticed the covers quivering at the sound, so she decided to make it louder and louder.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP!?" Ed screamed, tearing the covers away from himself and glaring up at Alice. The girl fell silent, blue eyes blinking at the blonde. Ed growled as he pulled the covers back over his head. "Go to sleep. We've got a long journey tomorrow if we want to get to Rush Valley on time, hopefully Mrs. Kay might arrange a lift for us there" he whispered in a sleepy tone, yawning loudly at the end.

Alice leaned over Ed, jabbing him in the ribs, causing him to yelp and sit up, hitting his head and the base of the top bunk in the process. "YE-OUCH!" He yelled, rubbing his head. "What's your problem!?" He eyed Alice cautiously as she slumped down on the ground. She crossed her legs and folded her arms. She pouted. "I want to meet Winry..." she muttered. Ed heard her but chose to ignore her as he rolled over onto his side again. The girl then began to repeat the phrase over and over again, barely stopping to breathe.

Ed's body tensed and tensed as the words began to be sketched into his brain. He still chose to ignore her, thinking that his urge to sleep off the days dilemma would take over him. But, after fifteen whole minutes of putting up with the broken record, Ed threw the covers off his body, grabbed his pillow and stormed over to the door.

Alice heaved herself to her feet, arms weaved behind her back. She gave Ed a sweet face. "Winry...?" She could hear the door-knob strain under Edwards grasp as he turned it. "I should have bunked with Al in the first place" he groaned, turning his head sharply at her, "you're bunking alone now, I'm **sick** of you!" He roared, walking out with the face of thunder and heavy steps, closing the door with immense force behind him. Alice's brow lowered, she innocently placed her thumb in her mouth and chewed. "No Winry...?"

---

Al peered at the door as Ed waltzed inside, his pillow creased in agony as he clutched onto it. Al sat up, the covers slipping down his smooth `skin`. "What's wrong brother?" he asked, not a sleepy note detected in the `unsinkable`-so called-Alphonse Elric. Ed dropped down onto the bed that sat across from his brothers, his face buried into his pillow. Since he didn't get an answer out of Ed, Al decided to continue the conversation.

"I thought you were meant to keeping an eye on Alice" Al squeaked as Ed flew up, his rough face burning holes into Al's soul. "I can't keep an eye on **that!** She wont shut up about her desire to meet Winry!" Ed shouted, falling back into his pillow. Al gazed down at the sheet that had fallen off him. "She can't be tha-"

"Will you shut up about the `she can't be that bad` lingo! You know she _is_ _that bad_, just as much as _I_ do!" Came Ed's muffled reply. Sighing heavily, Al slowly etched himself back into the pillow, tugging the covers back over himself, even though it wasn't needed. "... Brother?"

"What?"

"Do you think she's... lonely?" Al turned his head to face Ed as he noticed his older brother do the same, a skeptical look on his face. "`_Lonely`_? Al, I bet that girl is friends with every _little_ kid on this planet!" he snapped back, completely oblivious to what his brother was trying to get at. Al shook his head. "Not like that brother, what I mean is... Well, what about her family? What happened in her past life?"

Groaning loudly, Ed turned to face the creepy-crawly ceiling. "What are you talking about Al, you're not making any sense?"

"What I mean is... Why do we need to escort her-"

"My thoughts exactly"

"Brother!" Al sat up, getting a glance from his brother as he pursed his lips together. Red eyes looked over to the door. "I mean, _why_. As in, what reason does she need an escort? She is probably more than capable to take herself to Sunkolic, or maybe a relative could take her... So why?"

Al got no response from his brother. He looked over to see Ed have a look of wonder across his features. Ed snorted softly, his eyes slipping shut. "How should I know?"

"Bro-"

"I'm going to go to sleep now, Al," Ed turned onto his side, facing the wall. "Night"

"Yeah... Night"

Without any choice, Al stayed awake, staring up at the ceiling and occasionally down at the door, guilt drumming at his conscience. He looked over at his sleeping brother-who was snoring rather loudly-and hoisted himself up and out of bed, not wanting the guilt to tickle him in a place he couldn't scratch anymore.

Tip-toeing carefully to the door, Al slowly opened it, cringing at the loud, _creeak,_ but shrugged it off when his brother didn't even stir.

With the door shut silently behind himself, Al whisked around, about to march towards Alice's room when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned, to see Alice curled up on the floor sleeping soundlessly, her head propped up against the wall, causing her neck to bend.

He chuckled softly, bending down beside her and scooping her up into his arms. She snorted loudly and punched at the armour. "Nuh... I no wanna eat the green salad beast of the spaghetti... Nuh I don't, what are you talking about...You're a silly meatball" She moaned in her slumber, still hitting Al. Al felt the uncontrollable sweat drop run down his helmet. _What goes on in her mind?_

"Hey what're you duin'!? I said NO Mister Spingle-Hoff!"

Al wouldv'e given the girl a weird look if he could, not knowing-and not wanting-to know what was going on in that skull of hers made him wish he could do it. He couldn't wait until he and his brother were in their normal bodies again and until the two of them were free from their enemies, like the homunculi.

"NO!" Alice screamed suddenly, her eyes had snapped open and were looking up at Al. Al gasped, shocked at the sudden shout. He shared the look down at Alice. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry" he said apologetically, his voice fading away once he got a look at her eyes.

There was something... different about them. Her pupils were much smaller then normal, the color of her blue eyes hardened and they seemed a lot sharper. "Alice...?"

Without warning, the girl flipped from his arms, her body crouched down low as she skidded across the floor until she made a touch-down with the wall. Al took a step forward. "Alice!?" he leaned over her a little, a she placed her palms on her temples and shook her head. "Alice?" Al's tone softened as he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Mmhhnn... Who-Wha? Oh! Hello Mr. Phantom Armour Guy!" She sang, hopping up onto her feet, smiling her fluorescent smile at him. She pouted her lips like a fish as she looked at Al. "What's the matter? You looky likey you saw the ghost of the barn cows moo" She quizzed, her eyes narrowing. "What does the crow bark like!?"

Al scrambled back. "What? What are you talking about!?" he near-screamed, scared by the girls sudden move away from him and from her new story. She did a giant's jump and landed square in front of him. "The barn cow said to have died after he heard the crow bark! Not cawr! Bark! It was a `woof, splat, wallop!` and he was dead!"

Al rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Ok... I have no idea what you are talking about. But-"

"Gwwaaahhh!" Alice zipped behind Al, covering her ears, her lips trembling. "Did you hear that bark!? Am I going to die!? Uwaaaaaahhhh!" She clutched onto Al's shoulder, trembling violently. Al looked back over his shoulder. "Nothing barked, Alice" Alice released Al, her body still again. "Oh really? Huh... Must have been me again" she placed her finger against her chin in thought.

Al rose to his feet. "A-Anyway, you should go back to bed now, its late and you'll be tired in the morning if you don't go so," Al shuffled his feet towards the door of her room. She saluted him, grinning madly as per usual. "Yes sir! Mr. Phantom Armour Guy! But if you do hear a bark... Let me know straight away, don't bother telling Mr. Tiny. He wont believe it!" She folded her arms and huffed.

"He never does... I try my best to be interesting! But he denies it all the time! Its not fair!" Alice stomped her feet hard on the ground, steam coming out of her ears.

Al didn't know really what to say, even he didn't believe her stories, he just thought that he would play along to keep her happy. "Give it time... You never know" he suggested, his thumbs fiddling together. Alice's hands hooked onto her hips. "Mm-yeah, but still. He could believe a little sooner," she shrugged and slithered to her door. "Preferably before the crow barks," she told Al, her face as straight as a ruler.

How she could keep such a straight face to such strange creativity, Al couldn't understand. "Um, yes well, uh. Goodnight!" He called after hearing the doors suddenly slam shut behind Alice.

"Well yeah... Goodnight"

---

The eldest Elric yawned loudly as his eyes fluttered awake. Rubbing his flesh hand against his forehead, Ed groaned. "Muh... What time's zit?" he asked, lifting himself up. Al glanced over at him. "Still night brother" he answered, Ed grunting in response.

"I'll be back soon... I'm going to get a drink of water" he mumbled. With his heavy eyes shut, Ed had to use his hand to find his way out of the room, only to stumble on the bucket and mop that Mrs. Kay decided to randomly put in the middle of the room earlier that day. Al snickered softly as Ed shot up and brushed himself down. "Are you OK brother?" Al said through held back laughter. Ed muttered something unreadable before exiting the room, slowly closing the door behind himself.

"Hm," Ed glanced up and down the hay-filled hall-way. "Seems a little too quiet," his golden eyes fell in the direction of Alice's room, "did she actually go to sleep!?" He sneaked his way over to her opened door, just to see if he was right. Pushing the door open a little more, Ed observed the pitch black room. The only thing that stood out of the darkness a little was the green-white sheets of the bunk bed.

The alchemist inspected the bottom bunk, the only creases in there being the ones from when he tore himself from that very bed earlier that night. Stepping further in, Ed peered up at the top bunk, finding no creases at all. The bed was empty. Empty and made.

Ed took a step back, one hand holding onto the door still as his eyes wondered down the hall-way in both directions. "I take that back then" he told himself. He then proceed to turn and shut the door when something caught the corner of his eye. He sauntered back in, bending down at the object on the wood flooring. The white surface seemed smooth and was bent into an odd shape. "Is this?," he began, turning the object around between his fingers, "Alice's paper aeroplane?"

"I'm sorry"

Ed gasped, his head spinning around to the familiar crocked voice. He eyed the old women. "Mrs. Kay?" he rose to his feet, aeroplane held tightly in his grasp. "Why are you up? Did I wake you?" he went to bow apologetically to her when she held up at withered hand to him. She let out a jagged sigh, running her fingers through her short, curled locks of gray.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, her voice hiccuping a little as her palm fell over her eyes. Ed felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand as bad vibes suddenly flew at him like daggers. Without warning, the elderly women collapsed to her knees, crying into her hands. "I'm so sorry"

Ed gritted his teeth. "Mrs. Kay," he approached the women slowly. "Where is Alice?"

"I-I didn't mean to! I just ha-ha..." Her speech was held back with more sobs.

Ed stared down at her darkly, his hand crushing the paper aeroplane painfully.

"What's going on in here!?" Al shouted, about to run over to Ed when he noticed the women on the floor, crying. He bent down beside her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Mrs. Kay?" He whispered to her in a sympathetic tone.

"Where is she, old lady? Where's Alice?"

His frown twitched as he noticed Al's gaze shot up at him. The old women gulped and looked up at the young alchemist. Ed folded his arms.

"Tell me everything"

* * *

Muhahahaha cliff hanger! Aren't I good to you guys, he-he.

Yes, I thought that I would include Mrs. Kay in a little bit more, originally she wasn't meant to appear in this chappie, but what-hoe! She's here!  
I re-wrote most of this chapter because it was a little bit... meh, I didn't like the original version anyway. I wrote this chapter whilst listening to "Skye Sweetnam Smoke & Mirrors", I listen to Skye Sweetnam a lot when writing this story... huh...

But yes, I hoped you enjoyed it and I hope to see you all again in the ultimate Chapter Four! Woo-oo-oo!

Please R&R.

And I will see y'all in chapter four, if I'm not killed before hand by fireworks!

TTFN!

X.


	5. Bargain

Disclaimer; Anything FMA related belongs to H.A, Alice, Mrs. Kay, Emily, Edith and story belong to me...

I'M SO HAPPY I'VE FINALLY FINISHED WHAT I NEEDED TO DO FOR MY COURSEWORK!....Well, OK, nearly finished.... I just have to write the essay now!

Ahem, sorry about that, I just am very happy, anyway...

Enjoy :)

* * *

**Chapter Four; Bargain,**

Ed's fist slammed against the wall with immense force. Al placed his hands on his brothers shoulders, trying to calm him down. Meanwhile, the old women sat in a ball against the door frame, arms wrapped around her legs as she stared up at the brothers, her face drying from earlier tears of regret.

Turning sharply towards the women, Edward scowled. Heaving himself off from the wall, he allowed his shadow to loom over her as he stood before her, stiff as a board.

"What do you mean? You **sold** her?" He growled, his limbs suddenly twitching with agitation. Mrs. Kay found herself hovering up and towering a little over the boy. She lifted up a hand and wiped her face with her knuckles, dragged away dry tears. "Please understand," her hand fell to her side as her eyes wondered down, "it had to be done"

"And what's that meant to mean!?" Ed demanded. He went to take a step forward but stopped when his brother took a hold of his forearm. "I know that she isn't exactly a normal person and she can be annoying," Al muttered, trying to put the sentence in the nicest way possible. "But you still didn't hav-"

"Yes I did. You don't understand what life is like when you live in poor quality like us" the old women held both hands close to her chest, a ball of note somehow had already made it into her hand. Ed looked down at the money and then back up at her, his features itching to turn darker, however they were held back as Ed remained stubborn. "How can you say you live in "poor quality"?" He snapped, causing the women to flinch.

He looked down to the ground, gold locks shadowing his eyes. "You live a nice life, don't call it poor. Money isn't everything you know-"

"Its not the money! Its my darling Emi-"

"I'm pretty sure that Emily wouldn't want the money, she has a place to call her home and so do you," Ed chewed on his lower lip out of frustration, "how about you treasure what you have?... Instead of throwing away what others have in order to get what _you_ want!" Ed's once softened voice grew louder and harsher as he lifted his face back up to hers again, his eyes flashing with rage.

Mrs. Kay looked down to her side, her forehead resting against the door frame. She shook her head, dull eyes slipping shut. "You wouldn't know until you lived it. You'd do anything to get what you want, especially if its for someone you love, is that not true?" Her eyes pried open, staring deeply into Edwards.

The alchemist growled a little, marching past the old women. "Old lady, sometimes you have to think of other people first before you place your own needs into motion. You never know how you are going to hurt them" Ed nodded his head at Al, beckoning him to follow. Al walked past Mrs. Kay, sparing her a second glance before joining his brother. "We should know" Ed muttered, his tone completely hushed yet not unheard.

She spun around to them, hands still held to her chest. "Please," she fell down onto her knees, hands over her head in a praying manor. "I'm so sorry. It was the last thing that I wanted to do, no matter how annoying that child was. I knew it was wrong from the very beginning, but I was desperate. You say that you both know, therefore you should both understand"

Ed groaned as the women basically began to spill her life story, the last thing the two brothers needed. He turned on his heel to her, arms crossed over his chest. "Listen lady! I'm on a very important mission after I escort this girl to the place she needs to be. And to be honest, I don't want to be delayed any longer, so, spill it. Where is she?"

"Oh, um. Excuse me"

Ed and Al both turned to face Emily, her face filled with concern and sympathy. "Please, she didn't mean any harm, she just did what she thought was right and it was for my sake so I..." she fiddled with her thumbs. Ed moved his hand around, motioning for her to go on.

"I could take you to where Alice is"

----

The weight on her eyes felt like a ton as they forced themselves open. She pulled her knuckles into view, rubbing an eye with them. "Mmn-yer?" She patted the ground around her, to find it being soft and fluffy. She blinked, lips folding into fish-lips. "Hn-nee?" She dragged her body up, her once sleepy, blurred vision now focused.

Her eyes shifted around in their sockets. "This wasn't where I went to beddy-byes"

Looking around,she noticed that she sat on a monstrous king-sized bed, the sheets and pillows thick and comfy, baby pink in color. Four gold posts stood like mountains around her, abnormal patterns carved into their smooth surfaces. In the corner of the room sat a Victorian styled mirror and a table, a glossy white door standing beside it.

She placed her finger to her chin in thought. "Did Mrs. Kay do some D.I.Y whilst I was sleeping?" she pondered, hopping from the bed and to the feathered pink rug below. She giggled as the feathers brushed against her bare feet. Bare feet? She glanced down at them, pointing a finger at them. "What have you done with my shoezels!?" She demanded to her own feet, eye brows twitching as they furrowed.

Without any reply-not that she was going to get any-from her feet, she turned towards the door. "I wonder if Mr. Tiny will let me meet Winy yet..." She shrugged and skipped towards the door, his face bright and happy. "La, la, la, la, le-loo, la, la" She sang, her hand reaching for the golden door handle.

Just as her tips stroked against the surface of the handle it turned and the door flew open, causing her to scream and jump back onto the bed, hands covering her eyes. "It was the sheep, not me!" she yelled, curling up into a ball.

The tall and dark man-that had just waltzed into the room-eyed the girl with a weird look. She peaked past her hands to see the intruder.

His head nearly touched the ceiling, his dark hair tied back in a tight pony tail. A loose, white kimono covered his body. His feet tucked safely away in a pair of sandals. She glared at his feet. "At least his feet didn't betray him" she murmured, glancing down at her own feet.

The man marched over to the bed, arms weaved behind his back and his posture straight. "You," he began, his voice strong and stern. She shot up like a bullet, smiling at him. "Yello!" she squealed. He shook his head, sighing deeply. "Come with me" he commanded, strutting out of the room.

She rolled off the bed, landing with little grace on her back on the floor. The man's head whipped around, seeing if she was hurt. She grinned and waved a hand. "I'm-a-fine"She rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up onto her feet. Pumping a first into the air, she let out a yell. "Yeah! Lets go to where-ever it is we are goin'!"

Letting out another sigh, he led her down the long corridor, past the millions of plant pots placed around the hundreds of windows and doors around the place. "This is one heck of a D.I.Y job, hey mister!"

The males body tensed, his hand placed firmly on a grand door. He turned his head to her. "Yes?"

"Have you seen Mrs. Kay!? Or Mr. Tiny!? Or maybe Mr. Phantom Armour Guy!? I wanna say g'morning to 'em!"

Tugging the door open and gesturing her to come inside, the man gave her a simple yet confusing answer. "No one by any of those names live here"

She skipped inside, ignoring his response. Her mouth open in awe as she looked around this new room. It was huge! As in-well in her case-who-wha-hoe!? Huge.

Hundreds-no millions-of toys were scattered around the room. Piles of books towered like spires above them. The floor was made from blue marble, and easy to glide across. At the far end of the room sat a small pool, a small girl standing beside it.

The man marched forward and bowed to her. "M'lady. Father has bought you a present"

"Oh?" She turned to the blonde at the other end of the room. Her hair midnight black and tied back in a pong tail, her lips purple and plump. A puffy pink dress clung to her body, several ribbons tied around it. Knee high pink boots covered her feet, making the blonde's jealously rise.

She waved a hand. "Why, hello there" She walked over to the blonde, a welcoming smile spread across her features. She placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder and began to walk circles around her, dragging her hand across her body.

"Jello!" the blonde girl chirped as the black haired girl stopped before her, her hands on her pink rosey cheeks. She then moved a hand to take a lock of sunshine hair, twisting it around her finger. "What a pretty little present father has bought for me. What is your name?"

"My names Alice!"

The black haired girl sighed lovingly. "Hello, Alice. My name is Edith. Edith Asch, it is nice to meet you. My present"

Edith pulled back from Alice and twirled around, arms outstretched to the mass of materials around the giant room. "Please feel free to play with any toys you wish. Read any book. Eat any food, etc."

Alice smiled and nodded. "Ah, yeah. But you see..."

Edith turned to face Alice, her lips pouted. "Oh? What is the matter? Do my other possession displease you?" She questioned in a monotone. Alice rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I have to go and meet someone called Winry! Or at least I'm trying to convince Mr. Tiny to let me. But thanks a lot for the offer!"

Alice turned to leave, only to find the man from before block her way. She blinked and prodded him in the chest. "Mister, I wanna meet Winry. So if joo don't mindy windy" She went to walk around him, only for him to hold out his arm, stopping her again. "Hey, were you listening. I wanna meet Winry! And I need to convince Mr. Tiny, so lemme go!"

"Oh, I am very sorry, Alice. But I do not believe that _you_ have been listening to _me_" Edith purred from behind Alice. Blue eye glanced over her shoulder as she felt cold arms wrap around her neck from behind. Edith buried her face into the back of Alice's neck. "But I cannot allow you to leave. Remember, you are _my _present that my father had bought for _me_. I am afraid that I cannot allow what is mine to leave"

---

Ed had continuously tapped his foot against the back of the cart impatiently as he, Al and Emily travelled to the place where Alice had been taken. "How long till we get there. We don't have time for this" He moaned, shuffling his body around the pile of hay at the back, getting himself comfortable.

Emily looked up from the road to the large mansion in the far distance. "We should get there by night fall" she answered, pulling on the reigns of the horse that was tugging the cart along. Ed let glared darkly at the women. "Night!? We'll get there at night!? Surely the house isn't _that_ far away!"

"Brother, please!" Al defended, sitting in the space between Ed and Emily. "Its not her fault its going to take a while. Just calm down, please" Al ordered as nicely as he could, trying to calm his older brother down. Ed's automail hand curled up into a fist as he punched at the hay below him softly. "Why is it going to take so long?..."

"Well, Edward, unlike what most people say, horses need to have pit stops when travelling just as much as us humans do. We wont even get there by the morning if we were travelling with an exhausted animal. And it would take even longer to walk" Emily explained, clicking her tongue a little at the horse, which was a little panicky with the tone of Edwards voice no doubt.

"There, there boy its all right" she told it softly, encouraging for the horse to go on. Ed groaned, turning on his side and leaning against the back of the cart. "Something better not have happened to her. The last thing we need is to lug along someone who is traumatized" he moaned, his eyes slipping shut. Al shook his head at his brother. Emily looked over at Al. "Surely he doesn't see her as nothing more than a package he needs to deliver?" she asked in a concerned tone.

Al looked at his brother and then back at Emily. "No. He's just stubborn, that's all" Al told her quietly, as to not stir Ed, who was trying to find some comfort in the world of sleep.

Emily nodded smoothly and turned back to face the long road ahead. "I hope nothing bad has happened to her," Al muttered, staring at the glistening grass as the drove past each wet blade. "It was our responsibility to take care of her, no matter how different she is from what we are used to"

---

"There we go! It looks so pretty on you!" Edith praised, clapping her hands gleefully as Alice peered into the large mirror on the wall. She was requested to put on a nice dress for Edith. The pair had gone through hundreds of different dresses until they-well until Edith-found one to the midnight girls liking.

It was black, with a bit of red visible in the light. It was tight around her chest area, with a big bow sat in the middle. A red ribbon was wrapped around her waist and tied in a large bow at the back. The skirt was puffed and went down to her thigh. Long, white knee-high socks and black ankle boots covered the majority of her legs. Her blonde hair was then pulled back into a tight pony-tail, much like Edith's, her long and straight cut fringe being spared.

Edith stepped up behind the girl, placing both hands on her shoulders. "Oh, yes, yes. Very nice. Very pretty" She giggled. Alice pulled on the bow on her chest and twisted her torso around a little, getting a look at the dress from side-view. "Yeah! Its greaty- waity!" She sang, spinning to Edith, her hands resting on hers. "Now can I go and meet Winry?" her eyes shined hopefully.

Edith shook her head. "How many times do I have to tell you, darling?" A hand rose from Alice's shoulder and lifted you to the ceiling. "This is where you live from now on! Its a great and beautiful place that is just to die for! If you want to meet anyone you can meet _my _friends, not this Mr. Tiny's-or whatever he is called-friends" She released Alice and strutted forward, hands on her hips.

"And besides," she nodded her head at Alice, gesturing her to come over. Alice tilted her head to one side as she walked over to the other girl. "I bet _my _friends are so much more interesting!"

Alice placed her finger on her lip. "But... Winry?" Edith snorted and turned to face Alice, her hands cupping the blonde's cheeks yet again. "Forget about _her_. I ensure you, Alice honey. You'll have lots of fun here, with my friends"

Edith reached down and took a firm hold of Alice's hand, dragging her along behind herself. "Now, come, come. Let me show you to the lunch room. We'll be dining soon!"

* * *

Phew! This took me a while to write. Now I'm hungry.... I want food!

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you find Edith as creepy as I do, lol.

R&R please!

Hopefully I wont be lazy and wait till the last minute to finish my coursework next time so I can update this quicker, he-he.

TTFN!  
X.


	6. Decisions And BedRolling

Disclaimer; Anything FMA related belongs to H/A, OCs belong to me (can't be bothered to write their names out today)

Now, before we begin, I just wanna thank DemonRaily for pointing out a lil' hiccup I did in the last chapter, if anyone else thinks someone is acting OOC or whatever, lemme know, 'cause I sure would appreciate it! Thanks a lot ^^

Enjoyeth!

* * *

**Chapter Five; Decisions And Bed-Rolling.**

_"You can't be serious!"_

Ed groaned sourly, pulling the phone away from his ear as the Colonel practically spontaneously combusted on the other end. "I know Colonel, I'm sorry. We're on route to get her back now, I had to wait until I got to a phone before I could tell you-"

_"I don't care about that right now Fullmetal! Selling humans is a serious offense! And it probably wont be easy to receive custody of Alice again! I told you to escort her **safely**. How the hell did you end up on a farm anyway!?"_

Ed rolled his eyes, fingers twitching madly. "Believe me, you **don't** want to know"

_"I'll be sending someone over to arrest Mrs. Kay right away along with someone to help you get Alice back, like I say, it wont be easy"_

"Can't I just grab her and run?"

_"No, technically that would be classed as kidnapping"_

"No, technically **that **would be classed as **rescuing** Colonel. Like you said, selling humans is a serious offense a-"

_"Yes, but so is kidnapping"_

Ed's teeth ground together and his fist clenched. "I **really** don't need any smug remarks right now, _Mustang_"

_"I'm not giving any "smug remarks", Fullmetal, I am merely stating a fact. If you just waltz in there and take Alice, whoever she was sold to will report you in for kidnapping and probably use that as some sort of alibi to get out of it. Which is why I'm sending someone over right now to assist you, you can go up to the Asch estate and wait there until they meet up with you, then you should be able to get back on track to Sunkolic, understand?"_

"We can't afford to waste any time! We don't know who the hell she is with! By the time we get there her head could be on a flagpole! We need to get her out as quickly as possible!"

_"I know that we can't afford any time, but we'll just have to. Now you **are** going to wait, that's an order, Fullmetal. It wont take long till we reach you. I'll see you soon, Fullmetal"_

Ed open his mouth, about to shout back at the colonel when there was a click on the other end and he had hung up. Ed slammed his forehead against the wall of the phone-booth. "Damn!" he yelled, getting worried glances from Al and Emily who were both waiting in the cart nearby.

Al rose from the cart and walked over to the booth his brother was in. "Brother?," he began, stepping back as Edward exited, rubbing his now aching forehead. "What happened?"

He sighed and glanced over to Al, silent for a moment, giving himself time to think about what did happen over the phone. He smiled a little at him. "Nothing" he told him as he jumped back up into the cart. Al shook his head, not buying it at all as he mimed his brothers movements back into the cart. Emily looked back over her shoulder. "Are you sure, Eward?" she questioned with Ed nodding in response. "Don't worry about it, just get this thing moving" he ordered in a small voice, leaning back against a wooden wall, hands behind his head.

"So, what's the plan when we get there, brother?" Al asked, shuffling over to his brother a little bit. Ed glanced over to Emily to see if she was listening or not. He then leaned over to Al a little. "I'll go straight in whilst you and Emily wait outside, you'll see why" he told him, about to retreat back when Al placed his hand firmly on his shoulder. "I'll go with you"

"Al, this is _my_ fault. She was _my_ responsibility. _I_ was the one who was told to look after her, not you, Al"

"No brother" Al stated, releasing Ed and folding his arms. "Shes my responsibility too. I may not have been ordered to take care of her, but still I do have responsibility. So, we're in this together, as always. You got that?" Al said to his brother in a rather dark tone. Ed smiled at his little brother and hung his head. "Yeah, you're right Al. Together" Ed held out a fist to Al, smirking as it hovered in front of his armoured body. Al nodded, placing his fist against his brothers. "Yeah, that's right, together"

---

Roy rubbed his temples as a stress headache was fast approaching. "Damn, how the hell did he manage to _loose her_?" he snapped, glancing up at Hawkeye as she stood up straight before him. "Don't worry sir, he'll get her back" she told him, placing yet another envelope on his desk. Roy groaned. "Yeah, I know that. But if hes too careless he could get convicted for a crime he didn't mean to commit, or worse, depending on who we're dealing with. Anyway, did you send them out?"

Riza nodded sharply. "Yes, they have already set off sir, I wont take them long at all. They'll probably get to the Asch estate before the Elrics considering they aren't travelling on horseback" she answered as Roy tore the top of the envelope away. As he pulled out the sheet, he eyed it carefully. "Strange"

"What's so strange sir?"

He slid the papers back inside and reached for the phone. "Clive's location has shifted, all the old addresses he gave me have changed" he quickly dialed a number and placed the phone to his ear. A long and slow buzzing sound came from the other end as the person answered. "Yes, hello. I was wondering if it were possible that I could speak to a `Clive Robinson` please. Its important" Roy began, moving the pile of papers around on his desk until he came to a certain one he was looking for.

_"Hello?"_

"Hello there, Clive. Its Roy"

_"Oh, hi Roy! Got the new addresses I see, jolly good!"_

Roy arched a brow as he read his way through the list of old hotels on the sheet of paper. "I have a question for you, Clive"

_"Hm? Oh sure, ask away Roy!"_

"Its about your location, its completely shifted. You've gone from the East all the way over to the West. Aren't you meant to be travelling south to Sunkolic?"

There was a chuckle at the other end of the phone. _"Oh, that. Yeah, sorry about that Roy. I have something that I need to attend to first here in the west, you see. Uh-Family business. Yeah, that's right! My parents contacted me and said that it was urgent, the majority of my drama group have already made it to Dublith by now, see?"_

Roy frowned at the uneasy tone in Clives usually calm and cheerful voice. "You seem a little on edge today, Clive. May I ask why?"

_"Heh, heh. "On edge"? No, no, no. I'm fine! There's nothing to be on edge about, oh-ho-no! Oops, look at the time! By god its late afternoon! Must be going, good to hear from you Roy. Heh-um, toodles!"_

The phone was slammed down, leaving Roy to stare at his own phone with a dumbfounded expression. "...Toodles?" he shook his head and placed the phone down, rubbing his temples yet again. Hawkeye arched a brow. "Something the matter, sir?"

Roy glanced up at her, leaning back in his chair. "Nothing, just Clive being Clive again" he muttered, raising up from his chair and marching over to the window. He crossed his arms behind his back as he stared down at the bustling streets of Central below. Hawkeye turned to leave when stopped by the Colonel. "Hawkeye" The lieutenant froze at the door and twisted her body to face him. "Sir?"

"Do you think you'll be able to get someone at West HQ to see if they can locate where Clive Robinson is?"

"But sir, didn't you just speak with him?"

Roy turned to face her, his face alert and serious. "I have my doubts"

---

"I do hope that lunch as to your liking, Alice my dear" Edith purred as she and Alice walked down the long corridor. Alice groaned as she swayed from left to right, a hand clutching her stomach. "Mm-Yeah. But I wishies that I didn't eat so much" she complained, her nails clawing at her belly. "First my feet betray me, now my tummy" she sobbed, her head drooping down.

Edith giggled, a arm circling around Alice's shoulders. "Do not fear, it will ware off. Now, let me show you to my room. If you liked the play room from before, you'll love my room even more" Alice looked at her, smiling brightly. "OK, so where is it!?"

Edith smirked, shoving Alice into the door that stood beside them. Alice gasped as she found herself slipping over the marble flooring and then sliding on her back across the room until she collided with something soft and bouncy. The blonde's yes rolled to the back of her head as Edith ran-well jogged-over.

"Whoops," she began, bending down next to Alice, "my bad" She grinned mischievously as Alice's blues eyes come back into view. She gripped on to her head, rubbing it madly. "Owie! What was _that_ for! Miss. Meanie Weanie Tea For Teanie!" She shouted, tears brimming into her eyes.

Edith wrapped her arms around Alice, her cheek resting on her head as she stroked her yellow hair. "Oh, I am terribly sorry. Does it hurt?"

"Mm-Yeah"

"There, there. It will pass, now," she jumped to her feet, pulling Alice up along with her. Gripping onto her hand tightly, Edith pulled her along the wide-wide-wide space of the room. It wasn't much different to the room they were in before; toys scattered everywhere, books piled up to the ceiling, clothes put into giant piles too and a small pool at the far end. The only difference was the pink and fluffy bed that stood tall and grand in the middle of the room.

Alice gawked at the sight. "Its who-ha biiiggg-gg-g" she yelled in amazement, tugging her hand free and sprinting over to the bed. She then flung herself onto it, scrambling over to the far end and grabbing a pillow. Edith stormed over, hands on her hips. "What are you doing!?" she demanded, crawling onto the bed and over to Alice, who had her back to her.

The midnight girl stretched her hand for Alice, only to be pushed far back as a pillow was smacked against her face. She toppled over the edge of the bed, dragging some of the sheets down with her, providing a soft landing for her back whilst her legs remained on the bed. "What the...?" she blinked upon noticing Alice's head hovering over hers from the bed, a wide grin spread across her freckled features.

Alice held up a hand with three fingers held up. "Three points for me! Zero points for you! I WIN!" she sang, rolling over to the other side of the bed and eventually off it too. Edith's head swung to her left where Alice disappeared off to, her eye twitching all the while. There was a loud, _thud_, and then complete silence. "Alice...?"

No answer.

"Alice honey?" Edith heaved herself up and let her legs flop of the bed, finding herself on all fours. She slowly began to baby-crawl over to where Alice lay. "Alice?" she flinched when she got around the corner of the bed where Alice had rolled off.

She wasn't there.

Edith jumped to her feet, glancing around the room. _Crap! Did she runaway!?_ She looked over to the door which was still closed. Then over to the window, which was also still closed. Her eyes wondered down to the bottom of the bed. _Hm... Maybe._

She fell back onto her knees, lifting the pink sheets up, looking up the bed. "She's not here!" Edith shot up, her arms crossing over her chest and cheeks puffed. "Where is she!?"

A sudden scratching noise caught the rich girls attention. Her head fell back as she stared up at the ceiling, her eyes widened. _How the hell!?_

Alice was up there, somehow. Her palms were facing the ceiling and tensed, as if she was using claws to hold her up there. Her face seemed abnormally dark, probably from the lack of light in that area, but, there was something about it that made her look... frightening.

"Holy-"

"SURPRISE!" She squealed, suddenly dropping from the ceiling and crashing to the ground below. Edith screamed as a huge cloud of dust surrounded where Alice had landed. Her face grew white and her hands clamped onto her cheeks.

The door to her room burst open, the dark haired man from before running in, along with other men who looked similar to him. "What is the matter, M'Lady!?" he yelled. Edith pointed a finger to the smoke. "M-My... MY PRESENT!" She shouted, breaking down onto her knees. The dark haired man rushed into the cloud, leaving his colleges to attend to the fallen Edith.

"Girl!?" he shouted, using a hand to try and wave the dust away. "Where are you!?" he yelled. "I'm-a-here!" a voice charmed as a dark silhouette rose to its feet. The man stopped, one hand before his brow, trying to see past the dust. "Are you hurt?"

"Nope!"

The dust cloud fell down smoothly, revealing a completely unharmed Alice. "Noda scratch!" she saluted him, grinning madly. He turned to his master after hearing her gasp for air. "Y-You fell from the ceiling without any harm!?"

The man turned back to Alice with a skeptical look. "Now that's just cliche`"

Alice giggled, twirling around and around on the spot. "Look! Look! No harmy-warmy done at all!" she skipped over to Edith. "Don'tcha worry! I'm fine!... Well... Actually" Her smile vanished as she rubbed her forearm. Edith stood up, her hands gripping onto her shoulders. "What's wrong!? You are hurt aren't you!? Why did you go and do something so idiotic!?"

Alice's lip trembled as her eyes filled up with tears. "I..." she began, lifting her hand and rubbing her eyes as her tears fell. "I miss Mr. Tiny and Mr. Phantom Armour Guy!"

---

The sun began to set. Its artistic colors giving the sky some hope of light as the source began to disappear behind distant mountains. Ed smiled as the mansion became more and more three-dimensional as they grew closer to, in fact, almost right in front of it. "Finally! We're almost there!" he grinned, his hand gripping tightly onto the edge of the cart as he lifted his body up onto its haunches, giving the impression that he was about to jump.

Emily chuckled a little. "Yes. Yes we are," she peaked over her shoulder to the two Elrics. "I'm sorry that this took so long boys. I hope you understand" She smiled brightly at them both before turning back o the road. Ed's eyes lowered as he sat himself back down. Al cloned his brothers movements as he to looked down.

The brothers decided earlier not to tell Emily about Mrs. Kay getting arrested, they knew that it would only cause trouble on the way. On top of that, Emily might go back and do something she regrets doing or she might runaway from the law, even when she didn't have anything to do with the sale... well apparently she didn't.

"Brother"

Ed spun around to face Al. "Yeah?"

"... You don't think that Alice is hurt, do you?"

"She better not be. Or else there will be hell to pay. I have to look after her, so I will"

"Me too, brother"

* * *

And isn't Ed always true to his word? Huh? XD

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope that I didn't make anyone OOC or anything like that... yeah.

WHHEEEE I'M SO HAPPY! ( I went to a shop called "Forbidden Planet" today so I could get the second volume of the FMA manga, my Dad then said that he would let me buy the 3rd one too, so I was like "YAY!" and then I went to pay for them, the dude at the till said to me  
"You do know that its 3 for £15 today, right?" and I was like "O.o... Orly?" I then went over to the bookshelf and grabbed me the 4th volume. I then spent my afternoon reading them all and I loved them ^.^ So I'm happy!)

(Smacks myself) Shut-it! that's enough about you S-D!

But, yeah, hope you enjoyed it! And I'll see ya again in the next chapter!

R&R please.

TTFN! X.

Clive: *Waves hand* ^.^ Toodles!


	7. So, we meet again?

Yay, about time I updated this!

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A OCs/story belongs to me ^ ^.

(GWWWAAHHH I'VE GOT TO GO FOR A BLOOD TEST ON WEDNESDAY!!!!.... Ah well)

^w^ Enjoy

* * *

**Chapter Six; So, we meet again?**

It had been a while since she had started crying, and here she was, hours later, still balling her eyes out. Edith tried every way possible to shut her up; yelling at her, offering her sweets, asking if she wanted to change her dress yet. Everything the spoiled girl tried, failed.

Alice was curled up in the corner of the bed, burying her face into a pink pillow as she kept on crying. Edith stood outside of the room altogether, her fingers in her ears. "Tell me something, Jeff," she started, glancing up at the dark haired male that served her. "Yes M'Lady?" He blinked as she stomped her fee hard on the ground, teeth grinding and cheeks red. "Why did father get me such a noisy present!?" She snapped, hammering a hand on the door. "Are you going to keep quiet yet!?" she shouted, pausing as she awaited a reply.

"No," came the muffled whimper from the room, more cries following afterwards. Edith pulled her fingers from her ears and tugged on her hair stress-fully. "I've had enough of this!" she snapped, marching past Jeff and down the corridor. The man followed her, his face filled with blank concern. "M'Lady?"

"I'm going to phone father and demand an answer!" She announced as she stalked away from her room, leaving Alice by herself.

The blonde glanced up from her pillow, pouting at the door. "When are Mr. Tiny and Mr. Phantom Amour Guy gonna come and visit me?" she moaned, flopping back into the pillow. She turned her head on its side, staring out of the large window at the far end of the room. "Its boring without them" she sighed, lifting herself up and off the bed.

She jogged over to the window, placing her palms against its cool surface. "Where. Are. You?" she muttered, bringing her face closer to the glass with each word. "I'm. Bored" The tip of her nose touched the window as she glared down at the long road and large garden below. She slapped the glass, trying to take her boredom out on it. "Bored. Bored. Bored. Border than a second ago. Bored"

She pushed herself away and sauntered back to the bed. She perched herself on the edge, her chin resting in both hands. "If they don't hurry up, I wont be able to meet Winry" Alice puffed her cheeks and jumped up from the bed. She clenched a fist and held it before her face. "All right, it is decided!" she skipped over to the door, tugging it open. She glanced over her shoulder at the room behind herself with a mischievous face. "_I'll_ go and visit them!"

---

**"They sent you?"**

"Well heck, its nice to see you to Ed" Havoc grumbled, stumping a cigarette on the ground as the Elrics hopped from the cart and ran over to them. Fury peaked from behind Havoc, adjusting his glasses. "Hey, its good to see you again, Fullmetal" Ed gave a brief nod to the male and marched past the pair of military dogs. Havoc turned around to him. "Where do you think you are going, Ed?"

Ed stopped in half motion, fists held solid by his sides. "I'm going to get her back," he told him sternly, storming forward again. Havoc jumped after him, catching him by his shoulder, causing him to halt. Ed tensed and looked back over his shoulder. "_What_?" He spat dangerously. Havoc sighed, his grip on the boy's shoulder loosening a little. "Didn't Mustang tell you that it'll be kidnapping if you just grab her and go?"

Ed snorted and pushed Havoc's hand off his shoulder. "Yes he did," the blonde glanced over to Al, gesturing for him to follow. "But, to be honest, I don't want to have to wait to get her out of there, who knows, we might not even be able to get her back if we _ask_ the owners of this house permission to have custody of her. So, me and Al both decided that we're going to get her out the quicker way, no matter the consequences. Its our responsibility to take care of her, so we'll take care of this. Its none of Mustang's concern"

"But Ed-" Fury was stopped as Havoc placed a hand before him. The mucky blonde man smirked.

"You're serious about this, huh?"

Ed nodded, his stern expression not shifting for a minute. Havoc placed a hand on his forehead and sighed again. "Man, Ed. I don't-" He paused in mid-sentence when the Elric's both stared intently at him, guilt tripping him in effect. The lieutenant bit his lower lip, still smirking and shrugged. Fury eyed the higher ranking carefully. "Uh, si-"

"Well, those people in there _did_ participate in the selling of a human, so I suppose _that_ could get you a pretty good alibi there, Elric," Ed smiled gratefully at the lieutenant, turned and walked towards the household with his brother.

Fury took a step forward, as if about to chase the brothers. "Sir? Do you think that was a good idea, our orders we-"

"Well, don't forget, those boys are on a tight schedule, and there is the matter of ensuring her custody belongs to Clive again, so..." He glanced down at Fury. "They should probably get off the hook, besides, whose going to take the word of the famous Edward Elric for granted?"

Havoc patted Fury on the shoulder, turning back to the black car they had been transported in after boarding at the station. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Emily, holding her hands to her chest, staring into the house hopefully. "Hey," Havoc began, getting her attention. She turned to him. "Yes?"

"You're a familiar of Mrs. Kay, yeah?"

"Of course"

"I'm sorry, miss... But you're going to have to come with us, for questioning" He nodded his head towards the car parked behind them. Emily glanced at him and then up at the car. "Have I... done something wrong?" She asked nervously, obeying Havoc's orders and stepped over to the car, with Havoc opening the door or her, like the gentleman he was. "We can't be sure of that yet" He replied, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Sir, are you sure about this?" Fury questioned, staring at the house as the Elric's knocked repeatedly on the large entrance. Havoc nodded his head. "Oh yeah, you bet. Now c'mon, we've gotta get these two back to Cent-"

"Oh, please, hold on a second!" Emily called from inside the car, the window rolling down as she said it. Havoc bent down to her level. "Something the matter, ma'am?"

"Um, please..." She looked him in the eye, her eyes shining behind her glasses. "Could I leave something for the Elrics?"

---

Ed folded his arm as he and Al both waited for an answer. Al bent down a little. "Maybe they're not home?" He suggested, getting an annoyed growl from his brother. " They better be!" He smacked his fist against the door and placed it back over his chest with his other arm. "Hello!?"

He walked over to one of the windows, his knuckles rapping against it. "Anyone home!?" He kicked the stone wall, as the situation only made him more stressed. Al looked up at the lage window that sat above the entrance, seeing no light nor soul inside. "Lets make our own entrance, Al" Ed muttered darkly. Al's head snapped over in Ed's direction, just in time to see him clap his hands and press them against the window, a large opening appearing after a moment of blue sparks flying everywhere.

Ed sent his brother a grin as he stepped inside. Al chuckled a little, following Ed in close pursuit. "Whoa... Its big enough, huh?" Al whispered, glancing around the large room. A pool sat before them, toys were scattered everywhere, the floor made of blue marble and books piled up in tall towers. Ed slipped past the pool and sauntered forward towards the door. "Whoever lives here," he stopped as he felt himself stand on something soft, lifting his foot up a little, he found a pink bear sat beneath his foot. "Is clearly a spoiled brat"

_**"YOU DIDN'T KNOW!?"**_

Ed and Al looked at each other as a high-pitched voice boomed through the entire house. They ran towards the door, slowly pushing it open a little and peaking through the tiny gap they made.

In the golden hall-way stood a girl with long black hair, holding a phone to her ear and kept on stamping her left foot against the ground, almost denting it. "What do you mean "you didn't know"!? You should have found out before hand! Its like trying to tame a wild beast, I swear!" She screamed, tearing her hair out.

"Hey brother," Al whispered. Ed held his finger up to his lips harshly, shutting Al up. Ed pulled back from the door, slowly closing it behind himself. Al looked down at him questioningly as he scanned the room, finger on his chin. "There," he whispered, pointing to a door near the pool. Al followed his finger and the looked back at him.

"You go that way Al, look for Alice. I'll stay here and keep an eye on that girl and that man out there. If you get into any trouble-or if I do-try to meet up in this room again, or at least try to find each other, got it?" Ed smirked as Al nodded, turning to walk to the door. "See in a bit, brother"

Ed smirked. "You too, Al"

---

"Allo-oo-oo? Mr. Phantom Armour Guy? Mr. Tiny?" Alice yelled as she wondered aimlessly through dark corridors. She froze on the spot, finger pressing innocently against her lower lip. "Anybody?"

A shiver worked down her spine as she felt a small breeze come and go behind herself. Shaking, she turned around, keeping her hands close to her body as she did so. "Ish somebody there?," she turned fully on her heel and began to walk inthe direction she felt the random draft come from.

A vase that stood tall and proud beside her suddenly collapsed to the ground, smashing on contact. Alice jumped back, slamming herself into the wall. "Hello? Can you help me, Mr. Ghost?," she pushed herself up from the wall, glancing around. "Halp... I'm lost and all alone" She told thin air. Gazing down at the fallen pot, she slid herself past it, staring at it as if it was going to get up and run at her.

A sound of something pattering caught her ears, she twisted her head in the direction. "Oh?" She waltzed over to where she believed the noise was coming from. A low growl emmited from the pitch black shadows by a dark window. Gulping hard, she approached it, pulling away the cream curtain in the process.

"Allo?"

---

"I don't care if it cost you precious time and money to purchase my present! I want to know what you are going to do about it!" Edith screamed her lungs out, glaring hard at the phone. After a moments pause of heavy breathing, she pulled the phone back to her ear again. "Yeah? Yeah... That does not matter at this moment in time! I don't care how long it will take for you to-" She gritted her teeth before yelling down the phone again.

**"FORGET IT!"**

She rammed the phone down, turning to Jeff. "If that little brat can't learn the easy way," she spun around, her brows furrowed, "then she'll learn the hard way"

"Do you think that's a little tough M'lady, she is younger then-"

"Age does not matter! I'm going to teach that brat a lesson for being so... So... Annoying!" Edith tugged on her hair yet again, completely unaware that Ed had been watching her the whole time.

She held a gloved palm before herself, counting things one her finger tips. "Shes loud, childish, annoying, naive and shes always in some ote world! She wont shut up about this Wine-ray person... or something like that, UGH!" Edith marched away, leaving Jeff behind in the corridor. The male sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Sometimes I always wonder who really _is_ the brat," he whispered, about to strut after the girl when something caught his eye.

He turned to the door, a frown twisting over his lips. "You there," he spoke to the door, folding his arms, "come out". A muffled curse sounded from the door as it was pushed open. Jeff arched a brow at the boy with golden hair that now stood before him.

"Who-?" He was cut off when a fist was flung at him, his forearm only just lifting up in time to block. He stared wide-eyed at the...short...boy as his arms strained to keep his fist from hitting him. "My name is Edward Elric," the boy lifted his face up, gold eyes shimmering with rage, "The Fullmetal Alchemist!"

Ed kicked a foot at Jeff, causing him to jump back. He slid back a fare few feet due to the smooth face beneath him. "Damn," he muttered, only just managing to stead himself with one hand and push himself up again. He was about to take a fighting stance when he noticed the boy clap and drag a hand along one arm, causing a metal blade to morph from it. Jeff gasped, throwing himself back again as Ed charged at him.

Ed cursed under his breath as he skidded to a stop, nearly crashing into a flowerpot that sat by a window. He used the rim of the pot to stop himself from going any further. He spun around as a shadow fell over him suddenly. The Elric brother rolled away as Jeff flung his body at him, only to miss and crash into the plant, dragging it down with him.

Ed took his chance and stood over the fallen man, pointing his blade down at him. Jeff growled. "Damn. You are a good fighter its no wonder you're so fa-"

"Shut up about that!" Ed demanded, pushing the blade closer to Jeff. "Tell me where she is. Tell me where Alice is"

Jeff blinked. His head then lowered into the shadows as he chuckled darkly. "Sure... I'll take you to her, so long as..." He rose slowly to her feet, making Ed back off a little.

Ed held his arm straight at the man as he hovered to a standing. "Don't move!" He ordered, his teeth baring at the man in the shadows. Golden eyes then widened as Jeff's body began to arch forward, abnormally. Glancing down to the hands and feet her was perched on, Ed noticed that they began to grow bigger and sharper. A low hiss purred from the shadows as Jeff began to crawl out from them.

"What?..." Ed backed up until his spine touched the wall. "What the hell!?"

---

Al had wondered through dark corridors for a long time now, entering random rooms and cupboards, finding no signs of life within any. He pushed another door open, only to find that it was an empty store room. He sighed and shut the door again. "Where are you Alice?" he asked thin air, hoping for an answer, even though he knew that none would come anyway.

The suit of armour looked down at the ground as he walked through the lonely parts of the house. "I hope she isn't hurt. Shes just a-"

"KKYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Al's head lifted upon hearing the scream run down the corridor and the owner run past him. He turned around, seeing a blonde blur run away in the distance. He ran after her with no hesitation. "Alice, wait!" He yelled holding out a hand for her. Al's hand lowered a little after noticing something fast and low sprint past him and catch up to Alice at an alarming speed. He gasped. "Is that...? Alice! Look out!" He screamed, stopping dead as he pulled out some chalk and began to scribble a circle on the ground.

The blonde girl turned her head around, her mouth opened to scream and her eyes slammed shut. She fell down onto her knees, clutching her ears as it pounced at her.

"Leave her alone!" Al shouted, clapping his hands and placing them on his finished circle. A marble hand suddenly launched from the gorund, catching it in its iron grip as it was in mid-air. Rushing to his feet, Al ran to the girl. She was shivering on the floor, obviously oblivious to what had just happened.

Al bent down beside her andplaced a hand on her shouder, she flinched, spinning her head to him, eyes still shut. "Well go ahead! Eat me Mr. Meanie Lion!" She shouted, peaking and eye open. She blinked. "Hoe?"

Al let out a sigh of relief, glad that she didn't seem to be harmed in any way. "Mr. Phantom Armour Guy?" Alice whispered, Al nodded. The girl jumped up and down, squealing all the while. "Yay! You came to visit me! Yay!" She spun around and pointed her finger to the creature in the marble hands grasp. "Ha-Ha! Mr. Phantom Armour Guy beat you, you mean bully!" She stuck her tongue out at it, her arms stream-lined behind her back as she bent forward.

Al glanced up at the creature; a chimera. He looked from the struggling cat-like-ceature and back to Alice. "Hey, Alice," Al rose to his feet. Alice turned to him, smiling brightly. She wrapped her arms around his stomach, rubbing her cheek against the cold metal surface of it. "I missed ya!"

Al looked around awkwardly. "Um, sure. You too. Um, Alice?" The girl pushed herself away from him, her smile widening at him. "A-yeeessss?"

"Where did you find that chimera?" He asked, pointing up at it as it still struggled for freedom. Alice looked back at it and then to Al again. "In-ah-here, silly! I found it hiding and then... RAWR! It chased me down her and then I ran past you and then and then-"

"Ohh-kay, Alice. I know the story after that," Al held up his hands in front of his chest. Alice rubbed the back of her head, blushing a little. "Oh yeah! Silly me," she giggled. Her hand dropped to her side and her head tilted slightly. "Where is Mr. Tiny?"

Al blinked. _That's right, Ed! He'll need to find him now to see if hes OK, now that hes found Alice, they better get out and see if Havoc and Fury were still waiting for them, or if anyone else was anyway._

"He is here, we just need to find him. Come one, lets get goi-"

"And what on _earth_ do you think _you_ are doing down _here_!?"

* * *

And-a-finished... For now...  
Its about time I got this chapter done, I've been dist-No excuses!-so yeah, here we are (at last).

Hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you all soon ^ ^

Please R T.T I miss me... Where am I in this story?... ^ ^ Toodles 3


	8. And they meet

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A, OCs/Story belong to me.

Enjoy

* * *

**Chapter Seven: And they meet.  
**

Ed backed away as "Jeff" strode out from the darkness. The alchemist bared his teeth. "You're," he stopped when his spine brushed against a wall. "A chimera"

Jeff hissed. A chimera, indeed. His skin turned into a bright orange fur, black scars covered his cheeks and outer arms. His teeth had yellowed and came to a sharp point. His fingers and toes morphed into dangerous claws, and his feet had lengthened, sort of like rabbit feet. He swayed around the alchemist, effectively cornering his prey as Ed backed into the shallow area beside a window ledge.

_A tiger obviously,_ Ed ducked out of the way as Jeff suddenly pounced at him, his front claws waving around frantically. Jeff growled as he crashed into, and through, the window. Ed took no hesitation as he too threw himself through the broken window, landing on Jeff's arched spine with a loud, _crunch. _Ed was quick on his feet as he stepped back towards a gathering of trees. He then waited at the bark of a selected tree as Jeff slowly lifted himself to his feet. Ed used this opportunity to clap his hands and slam them against the tree. A large wooden spike shot forward towards Jeff.

The cat-man noticed this straight away through his new feline eyes. He pounced back, digging his claws into he dirt, forcing himself to a stop. Ed went to make another move, but stopped when he noticed that Jeff had his head hung and was panting hard. _He's out of energy already._ Ed decided to take this chance and ran from the tree to Jeff, automail blade held at the ready.

Jeff took a long gasp of air before jumping high into the air, just as Ed was in arms length of him. The chimera then allowed himself to fall, about to land on Fullmetal. Ed noticed this and rolled over, getting caught by a claw on the foot of the chimera. He grunted as he sat up, a fair few foot away from Jeff, rubbing his now bleeding cheek.

Jeff then began to pant again, his body curling in over slightly. Ed heaved himself to his feet, his brows furrowing at the chimera. "You're weak," he stated, walking calmly over to Jeff, who shot him an angered glare. Ed stopped a safe distance from the chimera. He opened his mouth to speak again, however was interrupted as Jeff lunged himself at him. The pair collided and were sent back from each other due to the force of the impact.

Ed groaned as he was slammed into the base of a tree. He rubbed the sore spot on the back of his neck painfully, cracking one eye open to see Jeff. His whole body was shaking violently and his breathing heavier. Ed sighed, forcing himself up to a stand. "Your attacks are quick, but," Ed began to advance to the creature. "Your recovery timing is slow. And your battle endurance is low. You've got no chance of beating me with _that_ standard of skill. So give it up"

Jeff attempted to growl at him, only to stop with his bad breathing. His features began to shift as he slowly reverted back to his human form. "No," he choked, clutching onto his throat. He sat helplessly on his knees, his head hung as he stared with shame at the grass, his pale face dotted with sweat. "I haven't lost... No," He fell forward, face down on the grass. He clenched a fist, grabbing some grass and tearing it out of the ground.

"Its over" Ed told him simply, bending down to his height. Jeff lifted his head up, staring blankly into the alchemists eyes. Ed sighed, grabbing hold of Jeff's arm, he lifted him to his feet. Jeff gasped. "What are you-"

"I'm _**not **_helping you, that's the last thing that I would do. The only reason that I haven't left you for the military yet is because you're going to take me to Alice," Ed sent Jeff a death glare, showing that he was serious. "Got it?"

Jeff simply chuckled. "Yes," he closed his eyes as Ed looped an arm around his shoulders, helping him to stand. Without another word Ed continued on towards the house. He approached the window, about to throw himself and Jeff over it when Jeff stopped him. "You must really care about that brat if you're going through so much trouble into finding her"

Ed froze, staring straight on ahead, his lips tightly closed and face somewhat tensed. "I just need to take her somewhere safely. Nothing more. She's an annoying little brat, if I had a choice, I'd leave her here with you. But I don't have a choice, so here I am"

Jeff chuckled, unsure if that was a joke or not.

---

Edith stared furiously at the pair, her body twitching madly. "_What are you doing down here!?_" She growled between her clenched teeth. Alice opened her mouth about to rant and rave about something, but Al stopped her by placing his arm before her and shaking his head at her. She pouted curiously at him, but managed to keep her mouth shut.

"I'm here to pick Alice up" Al told Edith straight. Edith looked like she was about to melt for a moment, but that changed as her face snapped to anger again. "_No._ Alice is _my_ property. She can't leave unless it suits _me_ best" Edith snapped, taking a step towards Al. Al backed up a step, pushing Alice back a little.

"No," Al stated, causing Edith to flinch. "She _isn't_ your property. She's _not_ an object" Al's fists shook by his sides. He looked down at the ground,holding his anger back, trying to keep the situation as calm as possible. "Shes a person. A human being. Shes not an item for you to just... just _buy!_ Shes _human_" Al protested, stepping forward towards Edith, making her step back a little.

She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that someone would dare to cross her and her family. Alice was her property. She belonged to her. Her father bought Alice as a present for her, so she wouldn't...

So she wouldn't...

Edith moaned loudly as looked up sharply from the ground and to Al. "I know that she is a person, a human, do you honestly believe that I am _that_ stupi-"

"Then stop treating her _like_ an object!" Al blurted out, stopping Edith dead in her tracks. "If you really do know that she is human, you'll allow her to be free! Its human rights! If you really wanted to keep Alice, you'd keep her as a friend, _not_ as an object!" Al snapped, holding his fists up to his chest. Edith looked completely lost for words. She hung her head, glaring harshly at the ground. There was a long, awkward moment of silence, until Alice decided to disturb it.

She reached up and tugged on Al's arm. Al looked down at her. "Alice?"

"I don't like this place very much, Mr. Phantom Armour Guy. I wanna go" She whined, pulling on Al's arm as she tied to drag him away. But he remained planted on the ground. "In a bit Alice, I'm sorry, but I need answers from this girl-"

"Edith"

"-from Edith"

Alice sighed, relaxing her body. She seemed upset for a moment, until a bright smile covered her bright face. "Snow-kay! But joo wont be long, yuppers?" Alice pointed a demanding finger at Al. A sweat-drop rolled down his head.

"Um, yuppers?"

Alice grinned. "All right then! Lets play a quizling game!" Al glanced at Alice at this. _"A game?"_ Is this all she saw everything as? A game? So, she threw herself from a train and nearly got Ed and himself killed because it was fun? A game? A little kid's game? Who knows, this mission seemed like a game in the first place, ever since Mustang sent the brothers out on it. Maybe even the Colonel was playing games. Who knows, he could be at his desk right now, laughing away at the situation.

Al shook his head. _No. Of course not. I'm just being silly._ Al was brought back to reality from the growl that emitted from the darkness behind them. _Oh, that's right! The chimera!_

"Edith?" Al began, turning his attention to the rich girl. Edith sent him a quick glare. "What!?" She snapped, not happy at all with his presence. Al glanced over his shoulder and then back at her. "Why is there a chimera in this house?"

Edith's face drained of colour. "You..." Her body began to tremble violently. She ginned at the ground, her eyes shadowed by her dark hair. "... Found out about it, huh?"

Alice nodded eagerly at Edith. "Oh, yes, yes! It was all like "RAWR"-" She pounced over to Edith, grabbing onto her shoulders and making her jump, "-and I was all like "EEK!"" She suddenly fell to the ground, curling up into a tight ball, pretending to be scared. Edith arched a brow at the girl, her grin disappearing at her sudden actions. Alice then jumped up from where she lay and held out both arms to Al. "And then, ta-da! Mr. Phantom Armour Guy saved mah life! And now here we are!" She smiled a Edith, her cheeks lovely and red from all the excitement.

The blonde placed her hands softly on the rich girls shoulders. "So, will you tell Mr. Phantom Armour Guy why Mr. Mean Lion Kitty-Kat was hiding down here. Then I can go and meet my daddy! I'll write to you, promise!"

Al blinked. _"Daddy?"_... _Is that why she is going to Sunkolic, to see her father. Heh. I haven't seen dad since... well..._

Edith's shaking eased under Alice's touch. She smiled a little at Alice. But, that smile soon turned to a frown. "I'm... lonely" She started, gazing up at the pair with teary eyes. Alice blinked, cocking her head to one side. ""_Lonely"_?" She repeated in a breath. Edith nodded. "Yes," She took Alice's hands. "I get everything I want. All the toys, books and clothes I could ask for. But, nothing I had seemed to please me. So, before father went away for work again, I asked him for a friend,"

She glanced up at Al, to see if he was listening too. After finding his gaze was on her, she pressed on. "He told me that he would buy me a friend, so he did-"

"Alice," Al spoke in a dark tone. Edith shook her head. "No," Al blinked in confusion, but kept silent, gesturing for her to continue.

"It was Lilly, a girl a bit older than you, Alice. She was my first friend. She was a lovely, sweet, beautiful girl. However, she was far too rebellious. So I..." Edith sucked in a large breath of air. "Changedherintoahorrifyingmonster"

Al stepped forward, his dark expression returning. _"What did you say?"_

Edith paused for a moment. "I had learned alchemy from Jeff, my servant, for some reason, he taught me the same alchemy the people used on him when he as a child. So... I-I, used that alchemy, to teach Lilly a lesson, however, it was then that I learned that what I did couldn't be reversed. So I... kept her down here, along with other chimeras... That I guessed my father created"

Al's fingers fidgeted, wanting desperately to go over and probably snap Edith's neck. However, Al leveled himself and kept his anger held back. Edith fell limp onto her knees, her fists resting on them. "I'm sorry..."

---

"So is this it?" Ed questioned, glancing around the large bedroom. Jeff nodded, leaning against the door, not wanting to be carried by the alchemist anymore. Ed wondered around the room. His fists clenched and unclenched. "You say the last time you saw her was when she was crying in here, because she missed me and Al?"

"Yes, that is correct"

Ed turned to Jeff, his face growing tense and serious again. "So where is she?" Ed marched forward briskly, his fist cocked to punch Jeff in the face. The taller male backed off a bit. "Don't ask me! I left the door unlocked, she could have walked right on out of here if she wanted to!" Jeff defended, staring down cautiously at Ed's hand. Ed shook his head slowly, gradually lowering his fist.

"You better not be lying to me, chimera" Ed said darkly, pushing his way past him. Jeff chuckled at the insult and swayed on after Ed. The pair walked in silence until a loud thunder suddenly echoed through the house. Ed and Jeff spun around, finding nothing behind them, but the sound of many footsteps. "Is that-"

Ed was stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes widening at the sight before him. **"You two _again_!?"** Havoc chuckled, waving a hand at Ed. "Yup. Turns out that a kind neighbour here claims to have seen "monstrous creatures" looming around here at night. So we came to check it out. Haven't happened to have seen any "monsters of the night", Fullmetal?" Havoc grinned, a cigarette hanging loosely between his teeth.

Ed glanced over at Jeff with a hard and cold expression. "No" He muttered, turning away from the lieutenant. "I have something to do, so if you don't mind" Ed marched on ahead.

"Sure thing. But I'm gonna have to borrow this man here for questioning" Havoc pointed at Jeff, who had steadied himself against the wall. Ed spun around, his mouth wide open to snap back when Jeff stopped him. "Yes. I'll come for questioning, gladly. But," Jeff looked past Havoc and to the group of soldiers stood behind him, about six or seven of them in total. "As some advice for your officers. I'd go and check _downstairs_. There is normally something very _unusual_ going on down there"

Jeff sent Ed a quick glance, before turning back to Havoc. "Oh, and you'll be wanting to have words with my masters too, the boss of the house and his daughter. They both know something about this house" Jeff blabbed on. Ed arched a brow at him, turned away and stalked off.

_Why did he just sell out everything to the lieutenant? Does he hate his job here or something? _Ed looked up at the ceiling. _Still, it'll soon be discovered that hes a chimera anyway and then it wont be hard to figure out that something is going on in this house. Most likely some more chimeras will be hiding around somewhere. Still, he's got something to do... and so do I._

Ed paused for a moment at the top of the long staircase, at the end of the corridor. The end of it was barely visible through the darkness.

_"-That I guess my father created"_

Ed flinched a little at the sound of a female voice echo from the darkness below. _It's that girl from before! Alice must be down there too._ With no more moments of pondering, Ed ran down the stairs and into the darkness, where he found them.

The girl was on her knees, Alice stood before her with a confused expression and Al stood behind her, his red eyes shadowed.

"... I'm sorry" The girl said, shaking down on the ground. She brought her palms up to her face, crying into them. "I'm so sorry!" She sobbed. Ed walked over to them silently, watching the three intently.

Al noticed Ed's approach. "Brother!" He called, a happy tone in his voice. "You're face..." The happy tone faded once the armour noticed the long scratch on Ed's face. He had forgotten all about that and was surprised that Havoc never brought it up. He placed a hand on his cheek and shrugged. _He'll be used to seeing worse._ He explained to himself mentally.

Al ran over to his brother, meeting him half-way on his journey over to the group. "Brother, this girl, Edith, she-"

"She's the one who has been making all the chimeras, right?" Ed looked from the crying girl to his younger brother. Al nodded. "Yeah. Only one though, he father made the rest, under illegal conditions too, without any license" Al explained, both him and Ed turning to the pair of girls.

Ed rolled his eyes, about to go over to Alice when she suddenly dropped down onto her knees and pulled Edith into a hug. Edith's palms dropped from her face and she looked over at Alice with a confused expression. "What...?"

"I forgive you" Alice whispered, tightening her grip on Edith. Edith's mouth trembled. "B-But... I..."

"I forgive Edith! Because I wanna be Edith's friendy-wendy!" Alice chirped, pushing herself away from Edith. She stared her in the eyes, smiling at her warmly. Edith sniffled, about to fall back into Alice for another hug, but froze when Alice spoke again, in a much more dangerous tone. "But," she pointed a finger at Edith, "I'll only forgive you forever-and-ever-and-ever, if you accept the consequences of your actions. 'Cause, cause, cause, its bad not to understand what you have done is naughty! You have to learn a lesson! So you face the consequences and because I'm your friend! I will face 'em too!"

Alice flicked Edith on the nose. "M'kay?" She sang, her happier face returning. Edith's face lit up, she fell onto Alice's shoulder, hugging her tightly. "Edith is not lonely anymore. Yesh?" Alice asked, looking at the back of Edith's head. Edith nodded eagerly. "Yes! Of course!"

"Cool!"

Ed frowned, turning away from them and to Al. "The military is here now. They'll be taking Edith in for questioning, just like they did with everyone else here," Ed whispered to his brother. Al looked at him and then at Alice. "We can't tell her. Or she'll go with her, got it?" Ed carried on for him. Al sighed and nodded. "Yeah. You're right"

Ed spun on his heel back to Alice. "Alice," he began, walking over to her. Alice looked up at Ed. She jumped from her spot and hopped to the spot before Ed. "Hey look, its Mr-"

"_Don't _say it" He threatened. Alice giggled. "Ti-"

**"Shut up..."**

Alice tilted her head to one side. "You don't like your name? But I tho-"

"Are you hurt?" Ed interrupted, wanting to change the subject. Alice shook her head madly and spun around. "I'm-a-fine!" She jumped up and down,and hopped around on one foot, showing Ed that she was just fine. Ed nodded. "OK then," he glanced over to Al. "Lets go," he whispered, turning away. Alice blinked. "Go? I just told Edith that-"

"We're sorry Alice," Al bent down to her a little, gaining her attention. "But we have to get you to Sunkolic. Edith will be just fine. You'll be able to visit her one day, OK?" Alice stared at him with teary eyes. "But I promised" she gasped as Ed grabbed her wrist and started to pull her alone behind him.

"Some promises are made to be broken" he told her sharply, shutting her up. Alice glanced back over her shoulder to where Edith... was. She opened her mouth, about to tell Ed that she had suddenly vanished into thin air, but decided to keep it shut. _Promises are made to be broken... So Edith just broke ours?_

Alice pouted at the darkness behind her as she was pulled up the stairs, several men in uniforms passing her by as they travelled upwards. "Bye bye," she muttered, waving her hand at the darkness.

---

She panted heavily as she rested a hand against the bark of a tree, one hand holding her dry throat as she tied to calm down her rapidly beating heart. She then slumped herself down, resting her back against the tree's spine. She sighed heavily, her head lolling back as her eyes grew heavy.

Her eyes snapped open and her head shot back forward upon hearing something land on the grass before her. A tall, dark silhouette stood before her, chuckling at her.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that... it took me ages to write. But I got it finished! Yay! I'm not too pleased with this chappie, there isn't enough action in it! XD.

Yeah. I only covered Edith's past story briefly, she's only a sub-character, only made for these chapters, so yeah. I don't know, Edith's meant to be the character you hold less sympathy for you know... (shrugs) meh, she'll be just fine...

Oooh. Who's that mysterious dude (Or dude-et) at the end? (well, most of you may have guessed it already... or have you? ¬3¬)  
Please review.

TTFN X.

Clive:... I'm still not here T^T

* * *


	9. Fears And Privacy

Anything FMA related belong to H/A. Alice, story belongs to me.

Enjoy

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Fears And Privacy.**

"Its about time we got back on track," Ed moaned, looking up at Al, who was sat opposite him. The armour nodded and looked outside of the trains window, down at the grassy meadows below. "We should get to Rush Valley soon, wont we?" He asked, turning back to his brother. Ed yawned, looked out the window and nodded. Al returned to his gaze out of the window.

The brothers sat there, peacefully quiet as the train chugged on it's journey. It was something the brothers wanted for a while now, a moment to themselves, even if it was brief and silent. That's all. They didn't-well, Al didn't-mind having Alice around, although, they weren't used to having such a loud character about.

"I wonder how long Alice is going to take," Al pondered, to no one really, not expecting to get an answer after all. Ed sighed and looked over to the isle of the carriage, seeing no one but a family of three and a couple, perched in their seats as the train took them to their destination. The young alchemist shrugged. "I don't know. However long it takes her to get changed, she is a girl, so it could be a whi-

_"I'm the monster from under your bed. If you scream I'll gobble up your polka dot socks that I have taken hostage. Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha"_ Ed let out a yelp as the eerie voice reached his ears. He spun around in his seat, finding Alice sat behind him, a mischievous grin scattered across her face. Her hair was pinned back in a tight bun, except for one long strand at the front. A white vest top, a pair of dark blue jeans and a pair of pink shoes were chosen for her wear for the day.

She crossed her arms on the spine of the chair and rested her chin on them, smiling at Ed and Al. "Did Alice scare you?" She sang, laughing at the end. Ed scoffed and turned away from her. "It takes _a lot_ more then _that_ to scare me" He pointed a thumb to his chest and smirked proudly. Al sweat-dropped. "But I thought you don't like-"

"Shut up Al"

If he could, Al would have grinned at Ed's quick and snappy tone. "Well, you did tell me that you really, really didn't like-"

"Al..." Ed's brow twitched and he spoke through clenched teeth, but he kept his smirk on. Al chuckled darkly. "You don't-"

"Al," Ed gave his brother an dark look. "Say anymore, and I'll..." He placed a hand on his automail arm, rolling his shoulder. Al snickered. "Oh really?" The brothers stared intently at each other, with Alice at the back, seeming very confused.

"Its OK Mr. Phantom Armour Guy!" She jumped up from her seat and landed next to Ed in his. "_I'll_ find out for myself," she held up both hands, her fingers flexing at Ed. Ed blinked, not quite understanding, until she edged closer to him. He backed off. "Oooh no you don't," he snapped, pointing a finger at her, "oohh no you **don't**"

Alice stopped flexing her fingers for a moment and tilted her head to one side. "What's this, a pantomime? Is this the part when I say "ooh yes I did!"?" She questioned, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. Ed's lip twitched. "What?" He backed off again as Alice shrugged and began to flex her fingers.

Within seconds, Alice flung herself at Ed, tickling him. However, unfortunately for Alice, Ed didn't react. The blonde simply sat there, not even giving the slightest flinch from being tickled. Alice growled. "Aw man! Mr-"

"Shutthehellup!"

"-isn't ticklish" Alice pouted, stopping her tickling, but not shifting from her position. Ed glanced over to Al, who was sat there, snickering away at him. The blonde blinked, unsure at what he was laughing at, until he realised the position he and Alice were in. He was pressed back against the window, whilst she was leaning over him, almost on top of him. Upon realising this, Ed didn't hesitate to push Alice away, his face red as a tomato.

"Hoe?" Alice seemed in quite a bit of shell-shock from being pushed all the way to the end of the seat, with Ed as far from her as possible. The girl looked from Ed and then to Al. She put her palm against her mouth and leaned over to the armour. "Did Alice find what scared Mr. Tiny?" She whispered, with Ed flinching in the background. Al looked up at Ed for a minute, who was glaring angrily outside the window. "No," he glanced down at Alice, "I don't think you did. Want me to tell you?"

"Nah. I'll make it my goal! I'll find out what scares him before I have to meet daddy-pops!" She held out a fist to Al. "If I don't, I've gotta buy Mr. Phantom Armour Guy the biggest, biggy, big-big gift, from Sunkolic, ever known!" She proposed, in a hyper, yet serious tone. Al chuckled, punching Alice's fist gently. "OK then," he whispered. If anything, he would rather play along with her game then try to ignore her, which was impossible.

Alice turned back to Ed, prodding him in the ribs. "Hey," she whispered softly. Ed squirmed a bit from the contact. He sent her a rapid glance, before returning to his "glare at the scenery game". "What?" He snapped, clearly still annoyed (which he more then likely will be for a long time). "What would you do," she leaned forward and pressed her finger against his cheek, "if you suddenly, without explanation, transformed into a turnip?"

Ed swatted her hand away from his cheek and spun around to her, slightly "worried" about the question. "If I was turned into a what?"

"A turnip. A common garden vegetable used in many dishes, such as-"

"I know what a turnip is!"

Surprisingly enough, Alice's lips clamped shut and she scooted away from Ed. The blonde watched her for a while, curious as to why she had suddenly stopped annoying him. He shook it off and turned back to the window. The party of three then remained silent for a long time. There was nothing but the sound of the train and the other people in the carriage talking every now and then.

---

Ed watched as the sun began to slowly set outside. _We're going to have to stop for the night at Rush Valley_. He sighed mentally, clearly wanting to get the trip over and done with. Considering the recent events (and the amount of explanations for the military needed to be allowed to continue the escort), it was no wonder why the three were behind on schedule, and why Ed had to put up with Alice longer.

"It's nice and quiet now, huh?" Ed mumbled, glancing over to his brother. Al nodded, looking down at Alice, who was curled up in a ball on the chair, fast asleep. "Yeah. It's a nice change, huh?"

"You mean Alice being quiet? Yeah, it _is_ a nice change"

"No, not that. What I mean is..." Al looked down at his hands for a moment, thinking of a way to finish the sentence. Ed cocked his head to one side. "What _do_ you mean?" His question caused Al to lift his head up again. "Well," he began, making a humming sound as he kept trying to think of a way to put it.

"What I mean is, its a nice change having someone like Alice to escort, well, having the escort altogether is sort of nice"

"... I don't get it"

"Um, well, think about it as, ummm... We don't have to really stress about certain things, like the stone, for the time being. Like, we're having a sort of break"

Ed snorted. "Getting attacked by chimeras. Alice getting sold to another family. Jumping from a train. You call that a break?"

"Well... compared to other stuff we deal with, then yeah. I do call that a break. Its not just the escort itself, its having someone so happy as Alice around. She has no care in the world, she doesn't even find the need to grow up and she's bound with endless energy. Kind of opposite to us, eh?"

Ed looked skeptical as he scratched his head. Al blinked. "What's wrong now, brother?" Al demanded, seeming a little embarrassed. Ed pushed himself from the window, hunching forward in his seat. He grinned a little. "You're getting real deep about this, huh?" He laughed as Al panicked a little, shaking his head and holding up both hands defensively. "It's just th-Its just... Shut up Ed"

The brothers both began laughing for a while, only for it to soon become silent again. "I guess it is sort of refreshing," Ed muttered, looking over at Alice. "As annoying as she is, it is sort of refreshing to have someone like her around," he looked back over to Al, who seemed to have lightened up a bit. Ed grinned, leaning back in his chair and waved a hand. "Don't get your hopes up, I'll still be glad once we get rid of her"

"Yeah, whatever Ed"

---

Ed grunted as he trudged down the hallway of the hotel. His cheeks were both bright red and puffed up as he held his breath, carrying Alice, along with her bag-pack, down the corridor. Al, on the other hand, was busy carrying his and Ed's luggage to even be worried about carrying Alice's.

"Either she weighs a tonne, or her bag does," Ed moaned, approaching their room for the night. He stepped aside, allowing his little brother of doing the honors as to opening the door and dragging their bags inside. Once the door was opened and Al was inside, Ed dropped Alice's bag on the floor, sighing at the weight loss. He then walked around the room, still carrying Alice. There were two beds, a kitchen and three doors in the main room. Behind one door was the bathroom, another was the balcony and the last was the door to another bedroom.

Ed walked into the other bedroom and placed Alice on the bed, not bothering to pull the sheets over her or anything as he went to meet his brother in the other room. Al was sat up on one of the beds, looking in Ed's direction. Ed smirked as he bent down and picked up Alice's bag. "This does explain her endless energy"

"What does?"

"How hard she sleeps," Ed shrugged, unzipping Alice's bag and peering inside. Al jumped up from the bed and tried to tug the bag from his brother's grip. "Ed, what are you doing? That's Alice's" Al pulled hard on the bag. Ed tugged back, swatting his automail hand at Al. "I just wanna see what's making it so heavy"

"Brother, you should respect Alice's privacy!"

"I do! Why do you think I put her in the other room!?"

"Brother!"

A ripping sound came from the bag, causing the brothers to drop it. The bag crashed to the ground, nearly all of it's contents spilling to the floor. Al rolled his eyes as Ed shrugged at him. The brothers both bent down and began to pick up items from the bag: several cuddly toys, sweets, colourful pens, a very thick script and a purple notebook. Ed picked up the book and read the cover, which was entitled "Alice's Diary, feel free to explore! :)". A sweat-drop fell down Ed's head.

"I don't think _she_ understands privacy," Ed told Al, flicking through the pages. Al rose to his feet, holding out a hand at the book (the other being busy holding onto a mass of teddy bears). "Brother, please-"

"This is weird"

"... Well, it _is_ Alice's diary, I guess"

Ed shook his head, his eyes fixed on the pages. "Not that, I mean, _weird_. "Weird" as in, its not normal, even for Alice" He held a fixed page of the notebook to Al, pointing at a certain paragraph. "I mean, check this out"

Al took the book from Ed and began to scan the writing.

_"I'm so excited to go to Sunkolic! I can't wait to see daddy and my brothers and sisters again! It's going to be so fun! We're performing "Alice in Wonderland" and I play the Cheshire Cat! It's gonna be awesome! Whhheeeeeeeeeee!_

_... Why do I even bother hiding. I might as-well just go out there, the military will find me soon enough. It's not everyday you'll see people like me wondering around..._

_I wonder if Mr. Tiny and Mr. Phantom Armour Guy will come and watch!... I hope they do! I'll perform extra-extra-extra hard for them!_

_... Who are these clowns that keep following me? Ones a suit of armour and the other is some shrimpy alchemist. Why do they keep following me? Are they from the military? Are they spy's? Stalkers? Have they come to capture me?_

_Oooohhhh! Tis gonna be awesome indeedy-do! I canny wait!"_

Al stared at the text, unsure what to make out of it. He shook his head a little, passing the book back to Ed. "You're right, this _is_ weird. It's like one minute she's Alice and then... she's not" Al's voice was soft and quiet with concern. Ed re-read the page over and over, as if looking for some sort of clue, his face darkened slightly, probably from the height comments in the paragraph.

Al pondered for a moment, before coming out with a suggestion. "A split personality?" He quizzed, getting his brother to turn to him, his golden eyes still on the book. "Maybe. But," Ed looked up at Al, slapping the book shut. "If she did have a split personality, she wouldn't be with us, she'd be with someone else, someone who specialises in the subject, like a psychiatrist"

"Then, what could it be?"

"She _might_ have a split personality, maybe Mustang was unaware of it"

"But wouldn't the military have records of it?"

"True... Maybe she's just taking this world of hers a little too far, or maybe even its part of the act" Ed shrugged a shoulder half-heatedly, picking up the bag from the floor and slipping the book inside. Al placed the toys in. "What do you mean "part of the act"?" Al asked, bending down and collecting up the sweets off the floor, whilst Ed took care of the pens and script.

"Well, she did mention that she was in a play and she has a script" Ed held up the script briefly before putting it back in the bag. "Maybe she's expressing her acting on paper. Or maybe she's writing a book, I hear there are books based off diary entries" Ed zipped the bag up and walked into Alice's room, followed by Al, who stood by the door.

Ed placed the bag on the bed side table and glanced down at Alice. "The Story Of Alice," Al said suddenly. Ed chuckled, pulling the covers over Alice that she attempted to pull over herself in her sleep. "The Abnormality Of Alice, more like"

"Heh, heh, yeah" Al stepped aside as Ed walked through, pouncing on his bed. The blonde weaved his arms behind the back of his head as he fell into the pillows. "We're heading to Dublith tomorrow then?" Al asked, his bed squeaking as he fell down onto it. Ed nodded. "Yup"

Al glanced at him. "Seeing teacher?" He asked, with a hint of worry in his voice. Ed shuddered. "More then likely"

"We'd better get a good nights sleep whilst we can, brother"

"Good thinkin' Al. G'night"

"Night brother"

---

"Hmm, it appears that the little one is fast asleep," a silky voice whispered, breaking the chilling silence on the roof of a building, which was facing the hotel the Elric's were staying in. "Can I eat her?" The large male glanced up at the women beside him, chewing on a finger. The women patted him on the head. "You've already had something to eat, Gluttony"

"But that rich girl wasn't filling at all Lust"

"No Gluttony, you need to be put on a diet anyway" Lust told him smoothly, getting an upsetting growl from Gluttony's stomach.

"Hm, I wonder if the pipsqueaks cracked on yet," another voice purred, getting both Lust's and Gluttony's attention. Lust smirked, turning back to face the hotel. "It is possible, after all, Mr. Anderson did such a perfect job"

A slender figure behind the pair chuckled. "Perfect? Is that what you think?"

"Yes. Why, what do you think it is, Envy?" Lust asked, in a more snappy tone. Violet eyes wondered to the sky as Envy placed his hands on his hips. "I don't know, if it went so "perfectly", you'd think we would have seen the results by now" Envy snickered darkly, causing Lust to turn to him again.

"Results?"

Envy glanced down at her before walking over to the edge of the building, staring down at the Elric's room. "Yeah, that's right... "results"" His smirk widened and he turned back to face Lust. "I could make those results show up early, if you want"

"... It's a matter of time Envy. Be patient"

"Aw, but you know I **hate** waiting, especially when it involves the dear little pipsqueak"

* * *

Yes, its done... Not much to say really... Hrmm... Yay, its nearly time for dinner!

Please Review.


	10. Nightmares Of The Boogie Man

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A Alice and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Nightmares Of The Boogie Man**

Al stood outside of the room, on the balcony, as his brother and Alice were both fast asleep in bed. The armour sighed, resting his arms on the balcony's railing, leaning forward a little as he stared up at the night sky. He had been like that for a while, being a suit of armour that can't sleep, he needed some means of entertainment, so he decided to _try_ to count the stars, a hard task (I've tried).

However, little did Al know, he wasn't the only one who looked up at the stars for comfort. "1... 2... 3..." Al blinked and looked behind himself, finding a very tired looking Alice stood there, a brown teddy bear clutched in hand. He turned to her as she approached him by the railing. "Alice? What are you doing up?" He asked her, putting a hand on her back to catch her as she stumbled a little. She giggle softly, leaning against the railing, resting her chin on the top.

"... Alice had a bad dream" She whispered, yawning softly at the end. She then pointed up at the stars. "Whenever I gets a bad dreamy-weamy, I look at the stars, it makes me feel all better" Alice explained, sending Al a small smile before looking back up to the sky. Al tilted his head to one side. "A... nightmare?"

"Yuppers, I saw the Boogie Man, he was really, really, really scary"

Al looked down at the ground for a moment. "Yeah... I used to dream about him too" He muttered, feeling Alice's gaze on him. His eyes wondered up to hers, finding tears in the corners of her eyes.

"He's scary, r-right?" She muttered, her voice cracking up with sobs. "I don't like h-h-him!" She shouted, tears seconds from pouring. Al held up his hands, a sweat-drop fell down his helmet. "No, no, please don't cry! The Boogie Man isn't real, he won't hurt you" Al begged, getting another giggle from Alice.

Just as soon as she was on the verge of tears, Alice had brightened up again. "I know Mr. Scary Boogie Man isn't real... But," she turned away from Al, her expression softening as she stared down at the streets of Rush Valley below. "Mr. Scary Boogie Man really, really, frightened Alice"

Al placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Alice tilted her head up to him. "It's fine, he won't scare you anymore, OK? I'll make sure he won't"

"So, Mr. Phantom Armour Guy is going to protect Alice!?" She chirped, smiling hopefully at Al. Al nodded his head. "Yeah, I promise, he won't even lay a finger on you"

Alice spun around to him, holding up her baby finger. "Pinkie swear!" She demanded, puffing her freckled cheeks. Al laughed, looping his finger with hers. "Yeah, I swear" He told he softly. Alice pulled away and spun around in circles on her tip-toe. "Yay-eeee!" She then stopped suddenly, wrapping both arms around her bear and holding it to her chest. "But, what about Mr. Tiny?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah, he'll look after you too, oh and your... little friend," Al said, pointing at the bear in Alice's arms. Alice looked down at the bear and rubbed her cheek against the top of his head. "Mr. Snincklepot will be happy you said that"

"Mr. Snincklepot?"

"That's right," she held the bear up to Al's face, "that's his name!" Al patted the bear on the head, before taking it's hand and shaking it. "It's nice to meet you" Al said to the bear. Alice pulled the bear from Al and held it to her ear, listening to whatever it had to "say". She then nodded her head wildly and grinned at Al. "He said it's nice to meet you too, and he told me to give you this-"

Before Al knew it, Alice had wrapped her arms around his armoured stomach, hugging him tightly. Al flinched from the sudden contact. Then, just as soon as she hugged him, Alice let go, holding the bear up to Al again. Al rubbed the back of his head, confused at the action and taken somewhat aback from the sudden hug. "Um... Hello?"

"No, no, no!" Alice snapped, pushing the bear higher up. "You hug him back!" She ordered. Al let out a small, "oh", before taking the bear off Alice and giving it a light hug. Al then passed the bear back to Alice, who had her arms outstretched to get him back. "Oh wait a minute," Alice gave the bear back to Al, tugging the bun in her hair out, letting her blonde locks fall free again. "That's better!" She sang, snatching the bear back and skipping back indoors.

"Are you going back to bed!?" Al called, keeping his voice as low as he could, not wanting to wake his brother.

"Yes, yes! Now that Mr. Phantom Armour Guy and Mr. Tiny are going to protect me, I can go back to sleep! Nuh-Night!" Alice yelled back, oblivious that a certain alchemist was still asleep. Luckily though, Ed did not stir at all, remaining in his deep sleep. Ed had moved from the bed to the sofa, finding it more comfy to sleep on the sofa in the room rather then the bed, for whatever reason. Al shook his head. He would never understand.

"Yeah, night Alice"

---

Roy groaned as the phone's ring disturbed him from a nice nap on his night-shift. He lazily reached for the phone and placed it next to his ear.

"Who are you? It's late. What do you want?" He moaned.

_"Gee, nice to see you to Colonel, sleeping on the job again?"_

"Clive!?... Sleeping on the job, me? What on earth do you take me for?"

_"A lazy man who just happens to be lucky with the ladies Roy" _Clive chuckled at the other end whilst Roy held his fingers next to the phone, waiting in hope that one day he'll be able to ignite the person on the other end. One day...

"So," Roy began with a yawn. "What do you want Clive? Haven't heard from you in a while actually, what happened?"

_"Oh, someone went and left their luggage back at one of the old hotels, not naming anyone, Justine"_

"Drama students being a pain again?"

_"A pain yes, but they're more like family then students to me. I could've sworn I told you that Roy"_

"Hmm," Roy rubbed an eye carelessly, "you have mentioned on numerous occasions. So, you called because...?"

_"Just checking on my dear Alice, how is she!?"_

Roy paused for a moment, thinking over the latest event before replying. "Just fine, although, due to change in train times, she's a bit behind but she'll make it. Clive, there is something now that I would like to ask _you"_

_"Fire away sunshine"_

"Sunshin-Forget it-It's about your location, where are you?"

_"Roy, I gave you a list of my addresses, I'm in the East, remember?"_

"Last time you called me you were in the West, your students were in Dublith and you mentioned something about "family business". Care to explain?"

_"Roy, my family don't live in the West, they don't even live in this country, they're on the other side of the **world** Roy. And I can't leave my students alone, that's breaking health and safety rules, plus I'd be letting their parents down and you know I don't like to let people down Roy. I don't know who you have been talking to, but it sure wasn't me"_

Roy rubbed his eyes again. "Then who could it have been?" He mumbled, trying to think on a tired mind.

_"You don't think that someone else is going after her Roy!?"_

"Someone _else_? Haven't I told you?"

_"... Told me what?"_

"Obviously not... Well, to begin with, the one you were fearing of chasing her has been found dead"

_"Wait... He's... Mr... He's dead? How?"_

"Murdered by Scar"

_"... He was an alchemist"_

"Exactly, which leaves us to these questions; who impersonated you and why?"

_"I don't know Roy, but I'll leave it to you, I need to get back to the kids to see if they're asleep, they get on the boat tomorrow morning, so I-"_

"You do your job Clive and I'll do mine. I promise you, Alice will get to you safely"

_"Thanks Roy. Toodles!"_

"Yeah, goodbye" Roy slammed the phone back down and rested his forehead on the table. He kept knocking his head against the wood, trying to think up who and why someone would impersonate Clive, of all people, unless to get to Alice. This, being on the note of Alice, stirred up another thought in the Colonel's mind. Why would someone else chase Alice? As far as he knew, she was only a witness at the incident all those years ago, why would someone else chase her? But then again, a witness could have seen something that would be dangerous in the wrong hands, maybe it was something in particular that she saw. Or maybe, she wasn't just a witness at all.

"Clive will know," he muttered, lifting his head off the table, "I think that Clive and I should have a little talk once he gets to Daglanne'"

---

_"Oh when the saints, oh when the saints, oh when saints come marchin' in. I wanna be, in that number, oh when the saints come marchin' in!"_

Ed's eyes peeked open, seeing nothing but white that startled him to jump, which he did, only to find that the white was just from the sofa he was resting on and to fall off it. He growled when he landed on the upper part of his back, and his legs still on the chair.

"Man down! Man down!" Ed's eyes flicked over to the side where the annoying voice of Alice came from. For today's wear, Alice had put on pretty much the same as the other day, dark jeans and pink shoes only she wore a bright orange vest top rather than a white one. Her hair was pinned up in two pigtails, with two bands that each hand little pig faces on each. In her hands sat a toy soldier and a teddy bear, a train sat on its side on the floor. She held the soldier out to Ed. "Don't worry, I'll save him," she said in the most manly voice she could muster. Ed felt completely helpless as he lay in a mangled position, with Alice next to him, prodding him in the ribs with a toy soldier.

"Alice," Ed started, glancing away from the girl, "I can get up myself you know". And with that said, Ed put both hands on the ground, forced his legs up, wanting to do a swash-buckling-break-dancing-move and spin around so he was laid down properly, only for his legs to fall forward, curling his spine over and making him end up in a crab position. Alice blinked at him. Sure, it was weird and not what Ed wanted to happen, but at least he could stand up straight away from this. He pushed himself up, brushing his clothes off once he was stood up straight again.

He looked down, noticing that Alice was staring at him in awe. He arched a brow at her. "What's wrong with you?"

"That was," Alice dropped her toys to the floor and jumped to her feet, grinning madly at Ed. "AWESOME! Oh, oh, teach me, teach me!"

"No" Ed spat back, turning on his heel and walking over to the door that led out to the balcony, where Al stood still.

"But why not!? I wanna learn, I wanna learn, I wanna learn!" She screamed, stamping her feet.

Ed groaned and slapped his hands over his ears as he stood beside his younger brother. "First it was "I wanna meet Winry", now this," he complained, glancing up at Al. The room behind them suddenly fell silent, causing both Ed an Al to look behind themselves. Alice stood there, head tilted to one side and lips shaped in a small "o". Ed went to sigh, but before it could escape his lips, Alice had already ran back over to them, giddy as ever.

"Winry! Winry! I wanna meet Winry!" She twirled around and around on the spot. She then stopped, clasped her hands together and fell down onto her knees, in a begging pose. "Please, please, please Mr-"

"Don'tyoudareeventhinkaboutsayingitn!"

"-please can I meet Winry now? I've waited so long to meet her! Please!"

"No. No you can't" Ed answered sternly, crossing his arms over his chest and turning away from Alice. Instead of screaming and crying, Alice turned to Al, still in begging pose.

"Please," She pleaded, tears in the corners of her eyes. Al sweat-dropped. He rubbed the back of his head, turning away from Alice a little. "Um, sorry Alice, but we need to get you to the ship before it leaves so... sorry"

Alice's lower lip trembled and tears began to pour out of her eyes. Ed and Al exchanged glances. "Run Al, she's gonna blow!" Ed whispered to Al.

"WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She cried, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles as tears flowed out of her eyes. Ed looked over at Al, who sent Ed a look. "What do we do!?" Al asked.

Ed held out both hands at Alice. "How the hell should I know!?"

"Well we have to do something!"

"Yeah, Al. Like what!?"

They looked down at Alice with a look filled with dread as she continued to cry. "WAAHH," suddenly, very suddenly indeed, she stopped crying and was smiling brightly up at the brothers. "Maybe when I come back I can see her?"

Ed arched a brow at this. "Come back?"

"Yuppers, to visit Mr. Phantom Armour Guy and Mr.-"

"Haven'twegoneoverthisenoughtimesalready!?"

"-again!" She jumped to her feet, spun around and walked back into the room, gathering up her toys off the floor. The two brothers watched her, completely dumbfounded by how quickly she recovered from crying.

"Heh, she wants to see us again," Al stated, watching Alice as she ran into her room and come back again with her bag. Ed glanced up at Al. "Yeah, sad isn't it, having an annoying little brat following us huh?"

"Oh, come on brother, you know that you would like to see her again, you said it yourself, she's nice to have around-"

"I did not!"

"Yes you did, you said that she was refreshing to have around"

"Yeah, I didn't say that it was nice though did I?" Ed finished with a grin. Al shook his head and followed Alice's steps-minus the jump and spin-back into the room, leaving Ed outside to stare at the other buildings of Rush Valley. The alchemist narrowed his eyes when he thought the saw something move on the top of a building opposite the hotel. But, when he saw nothing, he shook it off and marched inside, going to help Al pack up things for the trip to Dublith.

---

Without any fuss, Ed, Al and Alice were soon on the next train to Dublith. Ed and Al kept quivering in their seats, thinking about what their teacher would do to them since the hadn't bothered to contact her in a while, but that was the least of their worries, if she found out the amount of danger they've been in and out of, and he whole loosing Alice incident, it was sure that they should dig up their graves there and then.

Alice and Al sat next to each other with Ed sat opposite them, arms folded as he leaned against the window, watching the world outside go by. Alice on-the-other-hand, was busy showing Al a handshake she knew. "OK, so it goes like this," she held her hand up to Al. "High five," Al hit her hand. Alice then moved her hand down low. "Low five," Al hit her hand again. She then moved her hand to the side. "Side five," Al hit her hand yet again. Then, at the same time, Alice and Al hit their chests with their fists, making a howling noise like a wolf(1).

"And that's the bestest mates handshake(2)" She told him in a happy tone. Al let nodded, looking down at his hands sat between his knees. Alice leaned forward in her seat. "Do joo know anyway handshakes?" She asked Ed. Ed glanced at her. "Yeah, I do"

"Oh, oh, show me!"

"OK then," Ed held out his right hand. Alice mimicked him. Ed then grabbed her hand and shook it. "How do you do," he said in a slow, sarcastic tone before letting go of her hand and retreating back into his seat. Alice looked down at her hand. "That's silly and boring!" She announced, prodding Ed in the shoulder. "OWIES!" She yelled, having hit Ed's automail arm. She looked at her finger and then back at him. "Mr.-"

Ed didn't bother to rant, but blocked out his newly founded name, with a growl.

"-has really, really, really strong skin," she whispered, prodding the same spot again. "Wow" Ed sighed and rolled up his sleeve, showing his automail to her. She gasped and hugged Al's arm. "Mr. Phantom Armour Guy! He's a robot!" Alice yelled, pointing at Ed. Ed groaned as several people in the carriage looked over at the three like their skin had somehow turned bright orange.

Fullmetal pulled up his sleeve, covering his arm again and sent those looking at him death glares. Alice didn't let Al go as she kept on staring at Ed's arm. Ed glanced at her. She still stared. Ed sent her a glare. She still stared. Ed growled at her. She still stared.

"Dammit stop looking at my arm!" He snapped, causing Alice to scream, throw her arms up in the air and run out of the carriage. Al blinked down at the empty space next to himself, he then tilted his head over to Ed.

"Brother, did you have to do that?"

"She kept on staring"

"You should have just ignored her"

"Al, have you _tried_ to ignore her!? It's impossible!"

"Brother-"

Before Al could finish his sentence, the sound of a gun firing silenced him. Both Edward and Alphonse looked down the isle of the carriage towards the sound of the gunshot, just where Alice had happened to run off to. Al looked back at Ed. "Brother," he breathed. Ed cursed and leapt to his feet, running down the isle, Al in close pursuit.

"Alice!"

* * *

(1) Alright, that handshake is the handshake that myself and my adopted uncle, Mike made up, so yeah... that's copyrighted, so merh!

(2) Me and Uncle Mike call each other bestest mates and yeah, the handshake is named "The Bestest Mate Handshake".

Hope you enjoyed that, I had an allergic reaction to some hand-wash for some reason round Uncle Mike's house, so my hands burned when I wrote this, but did it stop me, nay, it did not!

Boo-yah!

Please Review and welcome Clive back to the stage everyone! :)


	11. Storms On Trains

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A Alice, Clive and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Storms On Trains.**

"Alice!" Ed yelled, approaching the next carriage, with Al close behind him. People in the carriage around him were busy looking back in the other carriage to notice the two brothers. They all began idle chit-chat, worried if it was a hijack or something. Ed and Al, on-the-other-hand, were too busy getting into the next carriage and searching for signs of Alice.

"Alice, where are you? Answer us," Al called, glancing around the empty carriage. Ed grunted, holding out a hand to his brother as he went to walk inside the carriage. Al looked down at Ed questionly. "Why'd we stop?"

"They're in here," Ed whispered, pressing his finger against his lips, beckoning for Al to remain silent. Al nodded slowly, not wanting his body to make too much noise. Slowly, the brothers stepped forward. Ed squinted, trying to look past each of the seat's shoulders, trying to see if anyone was hiding behind them. Ed clapped his hands as quietly as he could, creating a blade on his automail arm. Al looked down at his older brother, before following his glare at a specific chair. Whoever was hiding behind the seat wasn't too good at hiding, his spiked hair could be seen a mile away.

"You idiot, they can see you!" A loud voice boomed, from behind the Elric's. Ed turned momentarily,seeing a man with very short, ginger hair, holding a gun in their direction. Instinctively, Al stood before his brother, protecting him from any bullets as he went to take care of the one they could see from the chair. The ginger haired man saw this movement and began to fire, only for his bullets to bounce off Al's body, causing a bullet to chip his shoulder. The man merely grunted and began to keep on shooting at Al.

Ed grabbed hold of the corner of the chair's shoulder, grinning at how he was going to take this man by surprise. But he was mistaken. Once he spun around to find the man in hiding, there was no one there, just a wig that was nailed to the seat. "What the-"

"Put yer' 'ands up short stuff!"

Ed snapped, spinning around to the man behind him and cutting the elbow of his automail onto his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. "DON'TCALLMESMALLORI'LLGIVEYOUSOMETHINGTOCRYABOUT!" Ed screamed at the man who was on the floor, cradling his stomach with one hand and holding the gun up at Ed with the other. "D-Damn kid... You'll pay for that!" The man screeched.

Al spun around. "Brother!" He yelled, the ginger male saw this as an oppotunity and went to jump past Al. Al saw this out of the corner of his eye, he grabbed the man by his neck, head-locking him. The armour then used his free hand to knock the gun out of his, whilst he was still stunned.

The man on the ground went to pull the trigger, grinning madly as he did. "So long, kid-" He was cut off when Ed sighed and allowed his automail arm to fall onto the end of his gun, the blade slicing the weapon in two. The man blinked at the gun, his hand beginning to shake since Ed's blade was close enough to be chopping off his fingers to. Ed smirked at the man. "_You_ were gonna try to hijack the train, please, a little kid could do better"

Ed's smirk faded as the man on the ground began to laugh hysterically. Ed backed off a little from him. "Wh-What's your problem!?" Ed snapped, his eyes narrowing at the man as he pulled himself up, his head lolling to the side. "Hahahahaha... Y-You honestly thought we came to hijack the _train_, with only _two_ of us!? Hahahahaha!"

Ed growled at the man. "Then, why are you here, with guns and hiding no less?"

"We came to pick up some kid for someone, that's why" The ginger man told him, his tone soft and calm, unlike his comrades, which was quite insane indeed. Ed turned to him and Al looked down at him, still keeping a firm hold of him in a head-lock.

"A... Kid?"

"Yeah, this guy came up to us and told us that he'd pay us a lot of money if we caught this kid for him; said it was important. Since we didn't have anything to spare, we took up the job, thinking that it was gonna be a lot easier then this" He glanced up at Al.

"So, which kid were you after?" Ed growled, clenching his fists, having a vague idea of who this "kid" was.

"A blonde girl, fourteen years old, hanging around with the "Elric brothers", like I'd believe that, and she is said to be quite violent to" The ginger one listed, trying to pry himself away from Al in the process. Al kept his hold and looked over to is brother. Ed growled, turning back to the man on the floor. "Alright," Ed's fists clenched harder and harder. "Where is she?"

"Why-heeeeee-would you care... g-g-good sir?" The man laughed, getting a worried look of his comrade now. Ed's teeth gritted. He grabbed the man by the neck of his shirt and pulled him up a little. "That wasn't the answer I wanted! Where. Is. She!?" Ed held a fist back, ready to punch every time he didn't get the answer he was looking for.

"He does have a point, kid," the ginger one spoke. "Why do you care?"

"Because he's Edward Elric and I'm Alphonse Elric" Al told him, getting a glance from him. Immediately the man's struggles stopped and his face drained of its colour. "You... are?" He asked in a horrified tone, Al nodded. The man gulped, his body as stiff as a board.

"Answer my question, now!" Ed brought his fist across the man's face as he just continued to laugh. The man's head shot to the side, causing his maddening stare to be at Alphonse and his prisoner. He wasn't laughing anymore, but simply grinning madly. "You knew didn't you?" The ginger one asked, tugging on Al's are a little. "You knew these were the Elric's, why else would you be laughing, you bastard!" The ginger one barked, struggling more in Al's grip.

"Mmm-yes, I did know," the man turned back to face Ed. "But... I don't know where your little girlfriend is" The man's grin stiffened as Ed brought his fist back again. The alchemist's face darkened. "Wrong answer-"

"Oh, there you are!"

Ed froze in mid-action at the sound of the voice. Slowly, he turned to face the other end of the carriage. There stood Alice, with a man who looked like the train conductor behind her. "Alice," Ed breathed, dropping the man to the ground. Alice grinned, holding up a peace sign. "Jello!" She sang. He bright smile faded when something hit her on the head. She blinked, finding herself looking down at the ground suddenly. She moaned. "Owies" She rubbed her head and looked up, finding Ed stood in front of her, frowning strongly. She sniffled.

"Why did Mr. Robot hit Alice?"

"Because you could've gotten yourself killed Alice!" Ed snapped. "You ran off, right into these two men, if they aimed their guns right, they would have killed you! Don't you understand that-"

"I'm sorry!"

Ed flinched. It wasn't the apology that made him shut up, it was the tone of her voice. It seemed so broken and desperate. Ed soon found his glare softening at her. "Why didn't you run back after they fired the gun?" He asked her, softening his tone.

"I didn't want to go back. Mr. Gun dude One wouldn't stop laughing at Alice, he was so mean! So," Alice looped her arm around the conductors. "I told Mr. Train Man and he phoned up the military to get them both when we get to the next station! He said he would have gotten them to come now, but I said no! 'Cause I knew you'd be able to stop them" Her smile returned and she let go of the conductors arm.

Ed couldn't help but smile a little at what she said, it shown that she did have faith in them both. Alice jumped before Ed, her head cocked to the side. "Is Mr. Robot made at Alice?" She asked innocently, resting her finger on her chin. Ed arched a brow.

"Mr. Robot?"

"Yup! That's your new name, since you're a robot, it makes sense... unless you want me to call you Mr. Ti-"

"Mr. Robot's fine!"

Alice giggled, skipped past Ed and over to Al, who had used alchemy on a seat to create rope to bind to the two men as they waited to arrive at Dublith. "Heya Mr. Phantom Armour Guy!" She said in a sing-song tone, waving her hand madly at him. Al chuckled, waving his hand back at her.

"Hi Alice, it's good to see you're safe" Al rose to his feet from tying up the men, looking down at Alice. She bobbed her head from side-to-side, smiling brightly. "I would've been fine anyway! I knew one of you would come and if you didn't," she pointed at the train conductor, "he would have helped me! He's real friendly! Aren'tcha!?"

Without further ado, Alice hopped over to the conductor, punching him on the arm lightly as she did. The man blinked before smiling down at her, a sweat-drop rolling down his head. "Um, sure?" He chuckled nervously at the end. Alice then turned back to Ed, hands behind her back and her head lowered a little. She pouted. "Is Mr. Robot angry at Alice for not coming back?"

Ed flinched. "Um, well," he glanced over at Al, who shook his head lightly. Ed groaned a little. He walked past her, patting her on the head as he did. Alice blinked before spinning around to him, her smile returning. She gave him the thumbs up. Ed nodded at he before turning back to his brother. "We've got a little bit until we reach Dublith right?" He asked, sending one of the gun men a quick glance as he did.

"Yeah"

"We should think up our plan of action then"

"What "plan of action" brother?"

Ed gulped, tugging on the collar of his coat a little. "You know, the plan of keeping ourselves alive when we see teacher" He clarified, Al nodded his head vigorously. "Yes, yes we should"

---

A couple of hours had passed since the two gun men were caught, they were sent to a carriage which had been isolated, keeping them locked up and out of the way. Al sat with his hands between his knees as he watched the world outside go by. By now it was already dark and rain began to whip across the train's surface as it sped its way closer to Dublith. Ed was resting against the window, his mouth hung open as he breathed heavily in his sleep, with Alice next to him, facing the other way and curled up in ball.

Al sighed a little as he heard the roar of thunder boomed through the sky just after a fork of lightening bolted from the clouds. Ed didn't seem bothered by the loud noise, off in his own little dream-world, whereas Alice squirmed about in her sleep, biting her lip as she did. The blonde girl peaked an eye open, looking over at Al. She opened her mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by another scream of thunder. She let out a squeak and slapped her hands over her ears, bringing her knees closer to her chest as if protecting herself.

"Alice?" Al shifted in his seat, leaning to her a little. Alice peaked up from her hiding place, staring straight up at Al. The girl shivered as the lightening flashed again. "Alice doesn't like mean weather, Mr. Phantom Armour Guy, it scares Alice" She breathed, curling up tighter and tighter in her ball. "Does it scare you more than the boogie man?" Al asked softly, placing a hand on her trembling shoulder.

She whimpered and nodded her head slowly. "'Cause Mr. Scary Boogie Man isn't real and can't hurt Alice, but mean weather can" The weather sounded it's war cries again, making Alice become more and more secluded in her little space. Al's eyes softened as much as they could. He stroked her shoulder tenderly, trying to calm her down. He wasn't really too used to having to calm people down when they were so scared like Alice was now, there was the odd occasion, like when Ed had faced Barry for the first time, but not normally, he was usually around people who were really strong. But Alice was naive, which made her fragile, made her vulnerable.

"It's OK Alice, just try to calm down, alright?" He whispered reassuringly, still stroking her shaking shoulder. Alice peared through a tiny gap between her arms at Al. "Daddy used to protect Alice from the mean weather, along with Alice's brothers and sisters" She spoke in a small voice, that was only just heard by Al. The armour tilted his head to the side a little. "Brothers and sisters?"

Alice nodded, still in her spot. "Yes... Lots of 'em, some bigger and some smaller. We go around the world a lot, staying in lots of hotels, but I normally have to get taken around by someone else and wait to meet my Daddy and brothers and sisters, I don't know why either..." Then, without any other words, Alice cried in her arms. Al moved his hand from her shoulder, taken aback by her crying. Normally she would cry for little silly things that really don't need to get anyone upset over, but this time it was different. This time, she was crying for a reason. For a reason nobody really knew.

"Alice, are you al-"

"I'm always away from them, always, always, always. I have to get l-l-looked after by somebody else all... the time, the only time I can s-s-see them all is when we're doing a performance or when we're at home, which is never, ever, ever a long time" She sobbed, shaking her head, burying it into her arms. Al's hand hovered up to place on her shoulder again only for it to drop back down again as she began to speak.

"I have t-t-to just count the time... and just wait, wait, wait all the time, I have to... wait, wait for them, too see them again" Alice took pauses during her speech in attempt to gather her breath as she cried.

Al hung his head. She truly _was_ the complete opposite from him and his brother. Al knew that they did have a family waiting for _them_ to come back at home, but not the other way around, they just travelled around in order to find a way to get their bodies back to the way they once were. They didn't really have to wait for someone but each other.

"Alice," he began, lifting his head up to see her. She was still in her little ball, but remained silent, minus her crying. "What does you father do that makes you happy?" He asked suddenly. Alice hiccuped, lifting her arms up a little, so a blue, bloodshot eye poked out into view.

"He g-g-g-gets everyone into one room... we huddle together and just... just..."

"What Alice?" Al finally placed his hand on her shoulder again. Alice flinched from the contact, she glanced over in the direction Al's hand was before facing him again. "Talk" She squeaked, burying her face back into her arms again, wiping away her tears on them.

"How about we talk then? If it makes you feel better," Al said, glancing over at his brother, finding him still fast asleep, somehow. Unexpectedly, Alice shook her head. "No" She mumbled, her nails digging into her arms as her body tensed.

"Why not?" Al asked, keeping his hand on her shoulder, wanting desperatly for her to look at him. Alice shifted a little in her space, but did not come out of it.

"Only to Daddy, brothers and sisters I can talk to," she whispered in a voice vibrating with sorrow.

"Why only them?"

"Because," finally, Alice pushed herself up onto her palms, but she made no eye-contact with Al. "Daddy, brothers and sisters might get sad... they are happy when Alice talks to them... When Alice is happier"

"But-"

"Alice really, really, really wants to talk to Mr. Phantom Armour Guy and Mr. Robot, but I might upset everybody else, because I didn't talk to them to"

"Alice," Al glanced over to find Ed awake (well, half awake), looking over at Alice with a tired, stern face. "It's fine to talk to people besides your family, like your friends and stuff"

Alice glanced over her shoulder at Ed, tears still in the corners of her eyes. "But-"

"It's not just about whether your family will get upset, it's about whether _you _get upset too. If you really want to talk to us, you can" He told her, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking outside of the window as he did. The lightening forked and thunder screeched again. Alice jumped from her seat. Before anyone knew it, she was lying across the seat, with both of her arms wrapped around Ed's leg, her eyes clenched shut and body shaking violently.

Ed and Al both blinked at her in surprise. Ed groaned a little as she began to cry into his leg. He rested his chin in his hand and faced the outdoors. "We should be arriving at Dublith soon," golden eyes zipped over in Al's direction. "We'll find an inn for the night, it'll be best as to not disturb teacher this late at night" He told Al, seeming like he didn't care about Alice's crying. Al went to say something about that, until he noticed that Ed's free hand was out of his pocket and sat on top of Alice's head, ruffling her hair as she cried.

Al sighed. _She's just like a baby sister. She's a good kid, her Dad must be proud. _The armour then looked out of the window, with Alice's crying dying down as she began to drift off to sleep, Al had the freedom to think. _I've always wondered. _Al looked down at his hands, clenching and unclenching his fists. _Is our Dad proud of us?_

"Hey, Al"

Al looked up at his brother. "Yeah?"

"Tomorrow, I want to talk to those two gun men"

"... Sure, but why?"

Ed leaned forward a little in his chair, trying not to wake Alice. "Because, they said that _someone_ asked them both to catch Alice for them, I want to find out who it was"

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that, I was gonna add on a little extra part called "A Moment With Clive", but I'm too tired to do that now, so I'll put it onto the next chapter, purely for the reason that Clive feels a little left out, don't you Clive?

Clive: T.T a little...

Please review X.


	12. Doubled

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A. Alice, Clive and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Doubled  
**

Alice clung onto Ed's arm tightly as the group of three trudged up the worn stairs of the inn. The blonde girl was shivering violently and would always cling tighter whenever another fork of lightening flashed. As they made their way up, Ed remained silent as Al kept on saying words of comfort to Alice, trying to calm her down.

Soon enough, they all came up to their room. The door stood old and damp. The inn was clearly cheap, but it was just a place to sleep the rest of the night and nothing more.

Ed groaned as the door swung open. There was only the one room, with two beds and a mattress on the floor. He lifted his hand up. "_This _is it!? There isn't even a bathroom" He snapped. Alice winced, clutching tighter as another flash of lightening sparked. Ed looked down at her. He then rolled his eyes and strolled inside.

The alchemist lifted the arm Alice was clinging onto forward, he then pushed her off, making her land on the bed closest to the door. "You can sleep here, its furthest away from the window" He then passed her her bag. Alice snatched it off him, opening it and presented her teddy bear from inside. She grinned. "Mr. Shincklepot says "thank you" and I do to!"

"Um... you're welcome?"

"Hmm," Alice hummed, lifting her legs onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling, her bear laid across her chest.

Ed glanced at Al. "I'll sleep by the window, OK?" He muttered, dragging himself over to the bed. Al nodded.

"Sure" The armour stepped inside, sliding the door shut behind himself. He watched Alice pull out her diary and a pen as she laid herself on her stomach. Al was tempted to ask her about the entry that he and Ed both read, but decided to keep it to himself.

"Hey brother," Al began, sitting down on the mattress between both of the beds.

Ed yawned, rolling over onto his side. "What?"

"Have you thought of that "plan of action" yet?"

In a heartbeat, Ed's body went tense. The alchemist chuckled nervously. "No... You?"

"No"

"Well then, isn't the morning going to be fun?"

_"I am the music man, I come from down the way, and I can play! What can you play? I play the piano!"(1) _Alice sang, causing both Ed and Al to send her worried looks. She looked over at them and giggled, continuing to write in her diary.

Al turned back to Ed, noticing that he was sending Alice a much more serious look, propping himself up on his elbows. Al could tell that he was thinking about the entry to. "Brother," he whispered, getting Ed's attention.

"Yeah?"

"Go to sleep, you look really tired and didn't you want to talk to those gunmen?"

Ed groaned, but didn't protest as he slumped down in his bed, pulling the covers over himself. "Night" He grumbled from beneath the sheets.

"Goodnight brother"

"Eeee!" Alice squealed, making both Ed and Al look at her again. The pen she had in her hand had fallen onto the floor, and a great big red cross was scribbled over her page. Alice rubbed her temples for a moment before reaching down for her pen.

"Are you OK, Alice?" Al asked as Ed sunk back under the sheets, mumbling curses to himself.

Alice grabbed her pen and sat back up on the bed. She sent Al a look. Al nearly shivered: something about it wasn't right. Alice placed her pen and book on the bed before sliding off the edge of it, not saying a word as she did. She then stalked over to the door, pulling her two pigtails out of her hair as she did, combing her fingers through it. Her hand fell onto the handle.

"Where are you going?" Al asked, sitting up straight.

Alice glanced coldly over her shoulder. She stepped out of the room and slammed the door shut.

Al blinked at the door.

"What's her problem?" Ed asked groggily, still under the sheets. Al shook his head. "I don't know"

The armour then rose to his feet. "Maybe I should go-"

"Leave her Al"

Al turned to his brother. "What?"

Ed peaked out from the sheets. "She might just want to be alone for a bit. That's my guess anyway, since that talk we had on the train" He muttered, shrinking back into the sheets.

Al sighed. "Yeah, maybe"

---

Alice swayed down the hall, kicking up her feet and looking down at her shoes. Pink trainers. She sighed, placing the chosen foot back on the floor. She stared at the window at the far end of the hallway. The rain pounded against it, almost knocking it from its frame, the outdoors was completely black, not even the moon was in sight.

Alice approached the window, glancing to her side where the staircase she travelled up before stood. Tucking a strand of yellow hair behind an ear, she scowled.

_Those people are still following me. That armour and kid. I'm surprised that they haven't handed me in yet. _She sighed, closing her eyes. _It's only a matter of time, isn't it? _Her eyes flipped open, staring into her reflection in the mirror.

She stretched her hand forward, tracing a finger around the jaw of the mirror image. She pressed her lips together, pulling her hand away. She looked down at her palm, shaking violently.

"So," she whispered. "Its already catching up on me"

Suddenly, something whipped past the window, cracking the surface a little. Alice's eyes snapped after it, watching it land in a nearby alley, that was lit with a dim streetlamp.

Swiftly, Alice padded down the stairs. She then ran through the reception, the inn-keeper being fast asleep at his post. She went out onto the street, getting soaked through as soon as she stepped out. She glanced around, searching for the alley she spotted upstairs. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a dimly lit streetlamp.

"There," she breathed, running in the direction of the lamp. Slowing her pace as she came up to the lamp, Alice peered down the murky alley before her. She couldn't see anyone, not in the light anyway. All she could see was the stacks of garbage dumped in bins and in piles. She narrowed her eyes at the shadows, swearing that she saw movement within them.

After a long moment, Alice slowly turned away from the alley. Just as soon as she was about to walk away, something swift and shape cut past her. She only just managed to fling her body away from it. She stumbled over, rolling and rolling until she forced herself onto all fours, arching her back like a cat.

"Huh. Maybe Lust was right, you might be so "perfect" after all" The feminine voice hissed. Alice looked up at the slender teen before her, grinding her teeth as the spike on his arm morphed back into a normal hand. She heaved herself up onto her feet. The teen smirked.

"Hello there, little Alice Anderson"

---

Al glanced out of the window, watching the rain as it plummeted down to the ground. He sighed, turning his gaze up to the clock that hung limply on the wall: 1:30am.

Alice had been gone for a long time now and Al wanted to search for her, but as Ed said, she might have wanted to be alone for a while. But then again, both himself and his brother were supposed to be taking care of this girl, and letting her go off alone didn't seem like the best idea. "Hey, brother..." Al whispered, tilting his had up to see his brother, asleep under the covers. Al paused, knowing that he wouldn't get an answer, he decided to get up and look for Alice.

Approaching the door, Al took a quick glance at his brother. "I won't be long" And with that, he stalked his way out of the room, ensuring not to make a racket all the while.

Outside, the thunder's roar began to die and the lightening forks weaker. Al stepped down the hall, noticing a crack on the window's surface at the end. A spark of suspicion came to Al's eyes as he walked up to it. That he was aware, the lightning hadn't touched any surfaces on the inn, so why was the window damaged?

Al shook it off. _It probably was there before we came here, but still... _With a turn, Al found himself facing the stairs. Hastily, Al came down the stairs, noticing the sleeping innkeeper on his way out. The front door was wide open, welcoming in the heavy rain with open arms. Slowly, Al stepped out into the pouring rain. The drops slid down his body smoothly, as he stood in the street, glancing up and down until he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

"Alice!" He yelled, running over to the girl, curled up in a ball by the foot of a streetlamp. He crouched down beside her, placing both hands on her shouldes, helping her up. The girls head lolled around a little, her eyes shut lightly.

"Alice..." Al breathed. The blonde girl's eyes flipped open, she glanced at Al. Blood trailed from the corner of her lips and her hand was wrapped tightly around her stomach as she stared at Al. Then, both of her arms flew around Al as she sobbed into his metal chest.

"Mr. Phantom Armor Guy!" She cried, clutching hard onto him. Al sighed, rubbing her spine with a hand.

"What happened, Alice?" He asked, his tone relieved but serious. He glanced down at her as she shook her head wildly.

"D-Don't remember... just saw...saw..."

"What? What did you see?" Al questioned, feeling wave of fear as Alice began to go limp in his arms. The girl's head hit Al's chest lightly as her body slumped forward.

"Alice!?" Al yelled, panicked. He grabbed her by the arms and pushed her up. Her head was hung, blonde locks shadowing her face.

"Boogieman" She breathed, collapsing into Al again.

Abruptly, Al scooped her up in his arms and rushed back into the inn. He sprinted past the innkeeper, who was startled awake by the loud clanking noise coming from Al as he ran upstairs. The armour kicked their room door open and zipped inside, heading straight for Edward's bed. Holding Alice tightly with one arm, Al shook his brother awake. Ed snorted and attempted to swat Al's hand away.

"Go away Al, I'm not taking the milk no matter what you say" He groaned, pulling the sheets further over his head. Al rolled his eyes, ripping the covers from him. Edward stiffened as he felt the sheets being pulled away. With a grunt, he heaved himself up. "What's your problem?" He snapped, dark bags sitting under his eyes. Al looked down at Alice in his arms. Immediately Ed flung himself from the bed.

"What the hell happened?!" He barked, staring down at Alice. Al shook his head.

"I don't know, I found her lying in the street like this"

Edward growled, grabbing his long red coat, he tossed it over Alice. Al watched him questionably as Ed hopped his way into his boots. "Brother? What are y-"

"We're taking her to the hospital, we have to" He spoke, diving past Al and swinging the door open. "Its not far from here, we'll get there quickly if we run. Come on!" He yelled, running off without Al. Al nodded sharply, chasing after his older brother.

Racing out into the wet streets, Ed and Al darted straight down the road, heading for the larger building at the far end. As they ran, Al kept pulling Ed's coat back over Alice, trying to keep her at least a little dry. Although he couldn't feel it, Al knew that Alice would be shivering against him; she was out in the cold for so long, they had to get medical attention before hypothermia kicked in.

Booting the double doors open, Ed ran up to the women at the reception desk. She blinked at him as he slammed both hands on the white surface. "Get us a doctor!" He panted. Blinking again, the women looked past him and up at Al as he entered the room, holding Alice closely. Ed banged a fist on the desk.

"Now!"

---

Rays of morning sunlight creaped past the gap between the curtains, landing on the blonde girl in the hospital bed. She breathed deeply as she slept, her hair damp and skin freezing cold. Ed was fast asleep on the chair that stood beside the bed, his arms were crossed over his chest as he slumped back into the chair, snoring lightly. Alphonse sat beside Ed, watching the blonde girl as she slept, his hands clasped together between his knees.

Outside, the birds chirped merrily as the soared around the sky's of Dublith. The warm sun had dried up the rain, making it look as though it hadn't rained at all. Casually, people wondered around the streets, completely oblivious to the crumbling world around them.

Al rose from his seat and wondered over to the window, pulling the curtains open, staring at the cloudless, blue sky. Opening the window a little, Al allowed in a draft of fresh air. How he wished he could feel the wind on his face, but in time, he knew that he would be able to. Al laughed a little, feeling excited about getting his body back. He just had to be patient.

"Its... you"

Al spun around, finding the blonde girl looking at him from where she lay. Lazily, the girl lifted her hand up and pointed at Al. "You're the one... from last night" She whispered, her voice low and raspy; like she had a cold.

"Uh, yeah Alice, its me, Alphonse, you know," Al sighed, feeling stupid for even thinking about saying it. "Mr. Phantom Armour Guy"

The girl, Alice, lowered her head. Narrowing her eyes at him, she pulled herself up in the bed, her back resting against the barred headboard. She didn't bother to take her eyes off him to look at the white ward, she simply stared at him, saying nothing. And Al knew that he didn't need a calculator to put two and two together: Alice was acting different.

Hesitantly, Al walked back to his chair, pulling it a little closer to the bed, he sat down. "So, um, Alice, can you remember what happened to you last night?" He whispered, leaning forward in his seat. Alice glanced up at the ceiling, her mouth twisting into a tight frown as she tried to force up a memory.

Nothing.

"No... I don't" She replied, staring back down at Alphonse. "Why does it concern _you_?" She spat, glaring harshly at Al.

He really didn't need a calculator at all.

Al shot up like a bullet, causing his chair to fall back over. Clenching his fists by his sides, it was Al's turn to glare down at Alice.

"So then..." A voice spoke, Al looked down, finding Ed sitting up in his seat, arms folded and one leg crossed over the other. "Spit it out. Who are you?"

Alice sent Ed a quick look before turning her head away, looking out the window. Ed rose slowly from his seat, placing both palms on the bed he leaned over to Alice.

"I know you're not her, so don't bother trying," he whispered harshly. He clenched his fists, curling up sheets within them. "Who are you?"

Still not saying a word, Alice heaved herself from her bed. Her knees felt like jelly as she rested her weight onto them. Taking a steady step, Alice began to walk over towards the window. Ed's fists were closed so tightly now, the sheets became shredded beneath them.

"Don't walk aw-"

_Bang!_

The door flew open, a young, quivering nurse stood there, a rush of panic visible on her face. "Is-Is everything alright in here!? There was a loud noise, what happened!?" She looked over, finding a suit of armour knelt down beside the girl on the floor, dressed in a hospital gown. As she ran over to them, she noticed a blonde boy sat in a chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose and grinding his teeth.

The nurse crouched before the armour, assisting him in helping the girl up. "What happened!?" She asked, the girl looked up groggily at the nurse. The girl pouted, pressing her lower index finer against hr lip.

"I donny knows. A minute ago I was in the streets, with Mr. Phantom Armour Guy and then whoosh! I was here" The girl grinned up at the nurse. The older women pulled a concerned look as the armour hauled Alice up onto her feet. The nurse pulled out a file and began to flick through it until she came to a certain page, she glanced up at the girl and then back down at the page.

Spinning on her heel, the nurse left as soon as she came, not taking her eyes off the notes in hand.

"Alice?" Al whispered as he helped her sit on the bed. The girl swung her legs, smiling brightly at him.

"Yes, yes, that's me. How can I help Mr. Phantom Armour Guy!?" She chirped, giggling a little at the end. Al looked taken aback. His eyes flickered over to Ed, who was watching Alice cautiously. Alice noticed Al's gaze on Ed and turned around to see him. She waved a hand at him.

"Hello thar, Mr. Robot! How ish you?" She flipped herself onto all fours and crawled her way over to him. Ed blinked as Alice prodded him on the nose."'s wrong with yooouuu?" She sang, rolling over onto her back, crossing her arms over her chest. With a sigh, Ed shook his head.

"Nothing," he lifted himself up from his seat and turned away.

Alice tilted her head to one side. "Wheres you goin'?"

Ed glanced briefly over his shoulder at her. "I've got to go and talk to those gunmen now, you stay with Al, I'll meet you back here later" Ed's eyes turned to Al. "Or at teachers if you're not here"

As Ed marched out of the room, Alice looked over at Al. "Whose "teacher"?"

Al shuddered. "Its... just the women who taught us alchemy"

"Oooohhhh... Hey, Mr. Phantom Armour Guy"

"Yes?"

Alice rolled back onto her stomach, resting her chin on the backs of her hands. "Why do you look afraid?"

Alphonse Elric shuddered again. He knew it was only a matter of time until Ed and himself had to go and see her, and Al had a funny feeling that the trip isn't going to be a barrel of laughs.

* * *

**A Moment With Clive: **Clive In Wonderland: Part One

Personally, I was never the one to believe in childish fairy-tales when I was young: my family was far too caught up in the real world to even bother thinking about it. It was a true shame really.

I'd love to experiance a true fairytale.

_"Clive"_

Huh? Whose there? I'm trying to sleep.

_"Hey Clive, get up will you!?"_

Suddenly I felt something push me from my seat. I yelped as I tumbled over onto the floor, my long, brown trenchant flowing around me as I fell. Crashing onto the ground, I felt my top hat roll away from my head. I groaned.

"I was trying to sleep, Justine" I grumbled, my gloved hand reaching for my top hat. I dumped it on my head as I grasped my chair, pulling myself back up to my desk.

The young ginger-haired boy grinned, showing me the large gap between his teeth. With a roll of my tired eyes, I smiled at him. "Very nice, you finally lost you tooth" With a sigh, I pulled my wallet from the pocket of my waist coat.

"How much?"

Justine sent me a funny look. "Huh?"

"Well," I glanced down at my wallet. "Don't you give a kid some money when they loose a tooth?" I asked innocently. Justine burst out into laughter, flinging himself around my cramped study. I shot up from my seat, waving my arms round. "Don't knock them bookshelves over! They're the best scripts I have!"

Abruptly Justine stopped, still grinning. "No, its the Tooth Fairy who gives you it!" He corrected, smirking triumphantly at the end.

I looked back at my wallet, slipping it back inside my waistcoat. "Is that so?"

"Didn't your mummy tell you _anything_!? Come on!" He yelled, weaving behind my desk and grabbing hold of my wrist and dragging me from my study. The boy then pulled me through many different corridors, snaking past all the other drama students who came with us to the hotel. They all watched us walk by and then came after us, grinning mischievously.

Those grins always made me feel nervous.

Soon enough, I was forced into a large, empty room. Justine then spun around me, pushing at my back. "Go on!" He chirped.

"Yes, go on Clive" The other children echoed from the large, double doors of the room. My body went stiff, I slowly turned to face them.

"Hey, what's going on here? You're up to something, aren't you?" I wriggled a finger at the, narrowing my eyes and pouting my lips.

Justine shook his head. "Noooo" he grinned at the end. I lowered my finger to him.

"Yes you are. Saying no like that is the epitome of pure infancy evil, what are you all up to?"

"Just, walk into the room" Justine pointed at the rich, red carpet. I looked back. If it made him happy, I might as well, from my point of view, there were no traps lingering anywhere.

Wrong.

As I came to the centre of the room, the floor beneath my suddenly gave way, leaving a large open hole beneath only my feet. As I hovered in the air for a moment, I managed to glance at the children.

"Oh crumbs"

And with that, I fell.

I didn't bother to scream as I fell, I simply kept my body straight and stiff, my spine facing the ground and my face staring up skeptically at the slowly fading ceiling. With one hand, I held onto my top hat, not wanting to loose it. Then, from the ground above me, I could hear the children say something rather bizarre.

_"OK, use the alchemy on him now Max"_

I blinked. Max knew alchemy? Since when?

A flash a red light glowed from behind me. Looking back, I noticed a transmutation circle glowing dangerously behind me.

"Oh, those kids just take pranks too far" I mumbled s my spine connected with the light.

My whole wold then became black, with the sound of giggling children fluttering in the air.

_Oh heavens. What good could possibly come of this? _

To be continued...

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that, I haven't got much to say except:

(1) I love that song and one day I randomly started to sing it, so I put it on here too.

Please read and review.


	13. And The Boogieman Strikes

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A Alice and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: And The Boogieman Strikes  
**

"And why the hell should we tell you anything?" A gruff voice called from behind a heavy metal door. Ed growled as he glared through the doors tiny window. He had been going at this for over an hour or two by now; not getting a single word from the more sane gunman. He clenched a fist tightly, ready to pound the door in, but held it back as best as he could. With a rigid sigh, Ed tried to ask him again.

"Look, I am only going to ask you this, _once more_. Who were you working for?" He muttered through the bars dangerously. The ginger haired male inside laughed slightly, resting his forehead in a shackled palm. "Man kid, you've been going on at this for a long time now haven't you?" Pulling his hand from his face, the man looked Ed in the eye. "Why don't you give up and find out for yourself, I'm sure that you'll more then likely know who this person is"

Ed slammed both fists on either side of the window. "Don't give me that crap!" He yelled, feeling the glances from several southern soldiers on him. He chose to ignore it and continued to stare at the red-head in his cramped, dank cell. The bed creaked under the gunman's weight as he slumped down on it, creasing the yellowed sheets. Yawning loudly, he snaked his arms around the back of his head, smiling up at the ceiling. He couldn't help the snicker escape his lips as Ed growled through his teeth.

"You know something kid?" He asked, sending Ed at quick glance. "You humour me enough to give you a useful hint"

Ed's eyes relaxed a little, although were still narrowed at the man. Even though Ed would prefer to go in there and just get it out of the man one way or another and get it over with, but a clue would be decent enough and if it wasn't a very vague clue, Ed would probably manage to work out who it was.

The man laughed to himself, resting a hand over his eyes. "This will actually either make you think I'm insane or I'll just give it all away. Whatever, I'm locked up here now, like it matters" Pushing himself up, the man looked Ed right in the eye, making sure that the alchemist would believe him.

"Alright, I noticed a little red dragon, chasing his tail like a puppy," he watched Ed's eyes widen a little and then fell back down into the pillows. "There, I think I've said enough, no?"

Ed didn't need to be told twice as he bolted out of the hallway, down the stairs and straight out of the prison. He cursed over and over again in his head. He should have worked out something was wrong ever since he read that diary entry not too long ago, he knew something wasn't right in the first place; he just never took it to heart. And now, because of that, Alice was in danger, much more danger then she was prepared to handle.

Ed sprinted as fast as he could down the streets of Dublith, racing towards the hospital. He had to get there now, before a certain enemy does.

However, he soon found himself unable to get down the street when something hard flew at his face, knocking him off his feet.

"Honestly," a voice spoke sternly as he recovered on the floor. "What was I thinking when I took you on"

Ed gawked. "Teacher!?"

Let us pray that Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist comes out alive of this reunion.

---

"And then, BOOSH! Toy soldiers over ruled the Earth!"(1) Alice spread her arms wide, shaking her palms in the air. Al chuckled, a sweat-drop rolling down his head.

"Oh, is that so?" He asked, getting an enthusiastic nod from Alice. The girl rummaged through her bag that sat peacefully on her lap. Soon enough, she pulled out a small, green plastic toy soldier, holding a large gun in both hands. The blonde girl then rolled out from under the covers of her hospital bed, prodding the soldier against Al's metal chest.

After a moment, Alice frowned and began to hit agasnt Al's chest a little harder with the soldier. Al tilted his head at her. "Um, Alice. What are you doing?"

"Mr. Phantom Armour Guy appears to have a high tolerance in pain, Sargent Pickle," she pouted at the soldier and then turned back to Al, her index finger lodged under her curled lower lip. "We'll have to take drastic measures, wont we?"

Al watched curiously as Alice threw the soldier aside and began searching through her bag again. After a while, Alice cam from her bag again, coloured pens in each hand. Al knew what this meant. He backed off, lifting himself from his chair. He waved his hands at her."Oh, no, no. You don't want to be doing th-"

"Scribble attack!"

And with that, Alice pounced forward, reaching for Al. The armour stumbled away from her, his foot catching on the tail-end of a curtain. There was a loud rip followed by a monstrous thud. Al crashed down onto the ground, taking half of the curtain with him. He landed in a heap on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, trying to take in exactly what just happened.

Moaning, Al pushed himself up, resting on his palms. Shaking his head, Al glanced around for Alice, finding her in a pile on the floor not too far from him. She pushed herself up, ignoring the mass of pen scattered around her. Rubbing her forehead, Alice whimpered a little. Al was right onto his feet after that, rushing over to her side. He crouched down beside her. "Are you alright?" He asked, worry clear in his voice.

With a shake of her head, Alice looked up at him from the corner of her eye. Al tensed as he thought that the other... girl of Alice had come back again, only to be relieved when Alice greeted him with a grin.

"S'up Mr. Phantom Armour Guy?"

With a sigh, Al shook his head. "I'm fine, what about you? You looked like you had a bit of a hard fall then"

With a giggle, Alice sent Al the thumbs up. "Never better!" She pouted, looking at the mess of pens around her. Some of the lids had came off, leaving long scribbles along the floors surface. Alice's face relaxed into a much more sadden look. "Oh... I messed up, will Alice getteth a slapped wrist now?"

Al couldn't help but laugh at her innocence. Patting her on her head, Al shook his head. "It was an accident, not your fault, OK?"

Alice bent down and began to scramble to get hold of all of the pens, capping them all as quickly as possible, trying to rub off the marks with the end of her hospital gown. Al watched her carefully as she cleaned up her mess, frantically. He couldn't put his finger on why she was so panicky about it: it was only an accident, he told her himself. It was like she was rushing to clean her room before her parents came home again. _She's more of a kid the I first thought, _Al thought, bringing himself back to reality as Alice slumped back onto the floor, having cleaned her mess and lock it back up inside her bag.

She was clutching onto her teddy bear, rubbing her cheek against it, bracing herself for something; but for what?

Al reached out for her. Placing his hand firmly on her shoulder, Al caught Alice's attention. She smiled up at him. "Why, if it isn't Mr. Phantom Armour Guy! Do you like cookies?"

"Well, I... Alice, what's wrong? You seemed a little, I don't know, panicky, then"

Alice opened her mouth to speak, only for the door to suddenly burst open. Al shot up onto his feet, bracing himself for the worst. His eyes snapped shut.

"Oh my, what happened in here?"

Al's eyes cracked open. His body became limp with relief and his hand pressed against his chest. _Phew. Its not teacher, false alarm. _

Alice peaked up from the bed. "Oh, hello Miss. Nurse! How ish youeth?"

The nurse stepped inside, tucking a strand of brown hair behind an ear. "Um, fine? Listen, Mister, urm-"

"Please, just call me Alphonse"

"-Alphonse, could I borrow Alice for a moment please?" The nurse smiled, pointing down at the girl. Alice lifted herself to her feet, swinging her bag over her shoulder and pointing innocently at herself. "Me?"

The nurse's smile widened a little. "Yes, just you"

With a grin and not a care in the world, Alice skipped past Al and straight over to the nurse. The tall women looped an arm around Alice's shoulders, ready to guide her elsewhere. But, something inside of Al told him not to let Alice go with _this_ nurse. Something about her didn't seem nice, no, in fact the nurse seemed a little _too _nice.

Al stepped forward, his arm reaching out for Alice a little. "Wait," he called, causing the pair to stop dead under the doors frame. Al couldn't help but notice the nurse tense before she turned to him, smiling brightly.

"Yes?" She asked, in an all too sweet tone.

Al paused for a moment, stuck for words. "Um, I don't think that I really want Alice to be going with you"

"Oh," the nurse looked down at the blonde as she turned back to face Al. "And why is that?"

"Its just that... what happened to the other nurse that was seeing her before? She had dark hair, quite small and was kind of timid. What happened to her?" Al asked, his tone getting a little darker.

The nurse's smile twitched at its corners. "Oh... her, she's at home, afternoon off you see?" Al didn't respond and the nurse took it as an opportunity. Turning around and pressing her hand against Alice's back, she began to step out of the ward. Al, however, still felt like there was something going on. He chased after them, stopping the nurse by her shoulder. "Wait!"

"Don't touch me-!" The nurse bellowed, a hint of panic at the end after she seemed to realise that she came out of character.

Al's face darkened at her. "Alice," he began, keeping a tight grip on the nurse. "Get away from her"

Alice looked between the nurse and Alphonse. "Al, don't hurteth Miss. Nurse, its bad" She whispered helplessly, gripping onto her teddy bear, hard. Al felt himself weaken on the spot a little. Alice seemed in such distress, but it wasn't a surprise really, she's never seen Al act like this before. If it was Ed, she'd probably react better, since she's no doubt seen him act as such before, but never with Al. For her, seeing him like this made him look scary.

Suddenly, Alice latched herself onto his arm and dropped her bag onto the floor, looking up at him with tear filled eyes. "Its OK Mr. Phantom Armour Guy! Miss. Nurse is going to make Alice better! You'll see! And then we can play all day, I promise! Just don't put her in any pain, it's mean!" She shouted, tugging on Al's arm with all her strength.

The nurse glanced down at Alice and then back up at Al with a smirk. "That's right, you wouldn't want to _hurt _me, would you, _Alphonse_"

For a moment, Al seemed as if he wasn't going to make any move against the nurse, until he tensed up and looked down at Alice from the corner of his hollow eye. "I'm sorry, Alice" He breathed, pushing her away with enough force to get her off him; yet not enough to harm her. Stumbling back, Alice ended up landing on her rear on the floor, looking up fearfully at Alphonse. Al winced before turning back to the nurse under his grasp, who-unknowing to him-had slipped away from him and was stood on the other side of him, grinning darkly.

Al spun around to face her, spreading his body out enough to sheild Alice from her. Taking his fighting stance, Al eyed the women carefully as she began to stalk about, her grin not shifting for a second. "Poor little girl," she purred, sending Alice a quick look. Al stepped over, blocking the nurse's view of the blonde girl. "You've terrified her, Alphonse, how could you?"

Awkwardly, Al glanced back over his shoulder, finding Alice further away from him then he first thought, holding her bear tightly to her chest and staring wide-eyed at the armour. He felt his stance weaken a little: he did scare her after all.

"Aren't you going to say that you're sorry to her?" The nurse whispered, catching Al's attention. The armour whipped his head around and strengthened his stance again. However, even with his cautionary stare and fighting stance, Al wasn't prepared as the nurse suddenly darted past him, jumped up onto the bed and slipped over to Alice, crouching beside her. The younger Elric spun around just as she had landed up on the bed, he reached to her, hoping to grab her before she had gotten to Alice, only to fail due to her quick speed.

As the nurse sat beside Alice, Al made no move and just stood there watching her, not wanting to hurt Alice again. "No?" The nurse asked, arching a brow at Alphonse before turning her attention back to Alice. "Then I'll take her without an apology then, it doesn't bother me after all" With that said, the nurse looped her arms around Alice's shoulders and behind her knees, picking her up.

Al didn't need to be told twice as he bolted forward, reaching a hand out to them, although he wasn't sure if he was going for Alice or this apparent nurse. The nurse had other plans, pouncing away from him, she held Alice close to her chest as she flipped in the air and landed by the window, alchemic sparks flying around her as she soared through the air. This left only one thing in her place after she had landed: Envy.

The homunculus snickered as Al tripped forward, only just managing to pick up his heavy body before it could hit the ground. Al panicked when he spotted Alice in the grasp of the soulless being. He went to go at Envy, only to freeze on the spot after seeing a malicious glint in the homunculus's eyes.

Alice looked over to Al, her blue eyes screaming at him as her body shook violently. Al growled at Envy. "Let her go" He ordered, taking a step forward and holding up his fists. Envy snorted, clearly trying to hold in his laughter.

"Or else what? Don't forget who can use the little schizo girl as a shield" Envy said in a sing-song voice. At that point, Alice began to kick her legs about, trying to push herself free from the male's grasp.

"Mr. Robot! Mr. Robot!" She screamed, clutching the bear in her hands hard enough to make it burst. If Al could feel his heart sink, he was sure that it would have been like a pebble in water. She was calling out for Edward's help, even though Al was right in front of her. Al then found himself unable to move until Envy opened the window and flung himself out of it, bringing a traumatized girl with him.

Al ran to the window and looked around for any sign on the homunculus, none was to be found. Curling his hand, Al tore the curtains which he had already damage earlier. Out of anger, he flung the curtain to the floor, only to take the other curtain and railing along with it. The railing clattered loudly on the tiles, bouncing all over the place.

Then, the door to the ward shot open. Al turned around to find Edward stood at the door, panting hard. "Al..." He breathed as he began to saunter into the room. "Where is Alice? We've got to get her away from here, now" His head directed itself to Alice's bed. Ed's brows furrowed after finding that the girl was no where to be seen and her bag was left on the floor.

"Where is she, Al?" He asked, looking back to his brother. Al sighed, his shoulders sagging.

"She's gone"

"_Gone?_"

Al flinched a little. "Ye-Yeah, Envy took her. I tried to stop him I really did, brother, it's just that-"

"I know you would've tried to stop him Al, I'm not saying that you didn't... but..." Edward stopped, spinning around and kicking the side of the bed, hard. Cursing under his breath, Edward stared at the bag on the floor, fists locked by his sides.

"Edward, what's going on?"A stern voice called. Al looked up, finding young women stood by the ward, staring at the two brothers strictly.

"Teacher!?" Al squeaked, straightening his body at the sight of her. Izumi sent Al a quick look before turning back to Edward, obviously drawn in by his distress.

"What happened?" She asked, walking over to him, both her brows furrowed at him. Edward didn't answer, only glanced over to his side, trying to re-direct his attention. Izumi sighed, fists twitching at her sides. "You haven't been clear with me ever since I first met up with you, Edward. Tell me what's going on-"

Edward lifted his head and opened his mouth to speak, only for Izumi to stop him by holding up her palm. "No" She spat. "I want the truth"

Ed's lips sealed shut as he looked his teacher up in the eye. The women glanced over at Al and beckoned him over. "You too, Alphonse" She whispered, almost darkly. The boy didn't hesitate for a second and was soon stood by his brother's side.

"Now boys. Tell me the truth. Tell me everything"

* * *

(1) People in art class and I were talking about Small Soldiers, who doesn't? It's a great film, XD.

_Clive In Wonderland will be continuing in the next chapter by the way, incase you're wondering. _

Please review.


	14. In These Four Walls

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A, other characters and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: In These Four Walls**

Scratching several notes onto the script of "Alice in Wonderland", Clive rested his cheek in the palm of his hand, looking down bored at the papers. "I wish it didn't take this long just to leave some notes for those with only minor parts, sheesh" He moaned, letting is forehead fall onto the mahogany desk with a thud. The man's ever-growing brown hair fell around him as he continued to lightly hit his head off the table top, trying to wake himself up.

Then, there was a knock on the door. Gradually hoisting his head up, Clive rolled the sleeves of his white shirt up to his elbows. "Come in, it's not locked" He called with a yawn. The door swung open, slamming into the wall, hard. Clive winced. "Yeah, that isn't our property son" He said to threw boy at the door. The boy panted as he walked through the hotel room and up to Clive. Running his fingers through his short, spiky black hair, the boy stopped beside Clive at his desk.

Pulling on his tie, Clive leaned back in his chair and grinned up at the boy. "What's the matter, Talon?" He asked in a jolly tone. He looked the seemingly exhausted boy up and down, finding him dressed up in a white shirt and black pants and wearing a look of worry in his green eyes. Talon swallowed, gulping back more pants for air and held out his arms to the older man.

"You never told me that Alice was with the Fullmetal Alchemist!" He exclaimed, his brows furrowing at the end. Clive arched a brow at him as he folded his arms across his chest.

"... And?" He said, looking oblivious at the young teenager.

Without warning Talon bent down and grabbed hold of Clive's collar, lifting him up a little. "And!? _And!?_ Don't you hear about the amount of trouble that guy gets himself in to!? She's not safe with him!" He shouted, baring his teeth.

Clive sighed and rolled his eyes and he pulled the boy's hands off him. "I think she's safe, he's a good kid Fullmetal. Or at least, that's what _Roy_ tells me" Clive muttered innocently, scratching his cheek. Talon growled, clenching his fists down by his sides.

"It's not like the _Flame _Alchemist is any better" He grumbled, looking away from Clive.

Clive frowned and shook his head lightly, pushing himself up from his chair. "Look Talon, you've got to learn to trust people more-"

"And you need to learn how to get a shave" The boy muttered, gesturing to the scruffy beard forming on Clive's features.

The older man smirked. "And you need to learn how to not make yourself look like a skunk" He commented, pointing at the blonde strip running down the middle of Talon's head.

Scowling, the boy put his hand on top of the highlight. "This isn't the point. I don't trust either of them two, _alchemists_" He hissed, his glare hardening.

Clive tutted. "I don't see what you have against alchemists, Talon. You're not even from a place where alchemists are hated, so I can never understand why"

"I've got my reasons" Talon spat, turning away from Clive and marching past the pile of books and hotel bed. Clive leaned over to the side as he called after the boy.

"Hey! Where are you going, Talon!?" He yelled, causing the boy to stop.

Standing under the doorway, Talon didn't say anything and simply glanced at Clive over his shoulder. After a long pause, Talon walked silently out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Clive's shoulders sagged as he fell back down into his chair, forehead resting on his knuckles a he stared at the door. Turning back to the note he was writing, Clive groaned. "He better not go and do something stupid like he normally does"

Then, next to him, the phone began to ring loudly. Clive reached for the phone, hesitating as his hand floated above it. After a pause, he finally picked up the phone and held it to his ear.

"Jello, Clive here!" He sang.

_"Hello, Clive, it's me"_

"Oh goodness, so it is. Hey Roy, what d'you want?" Clive asked happily, leaning back in his chair.

_"I was wanting to have a chat with you, now that you're in Daglanne', if you're not too busy, that is" _Clive grimaced at the sarcastic tone in the Colonel's voice.

"Sure... About what?"

_"Alice. Clive, I know that you know something about what happened to her all those years ago and I want you to tell me. Now"_

Clive nearly choked on his spit at this. "I'm sorry!? You want to talk about what-"

_"I want to know what's happened, Clive. I want to know why there is someone else chasing her and what brought Scar into killing Mr. Anderson"_

Biting his lip, Clive allowed himself to think it over for a moment. "All right Mustang, but not like this, I've got a different idea: I'd rather not talk about this over the phone"

_"OK then, what?"_

"Well, after we leave here and go back to central, I could always tell you then. Or, I could tell Fullmetal and get him to pass on the message"

_"I think that I'd rather hear it now, to be honest, but I'll let it slide. Tell Fullmetal and I'll talk with him about it later"_

Clive smiled. "Thanks Roy"

---

The three alchemists had made their way back to the shop that Izumi owned, not saying a word or even glancing at one another until they were safe inside the back of the shop. The three all sat around the table, the two brothers staring down at the wooden skin in shame as Izumi kept sending them cautioned glances. A bag sat in the middle of the three, that bag belonging to Alice. They were going to tell their teacher everything, just like she requested, however whether they were going to tell her now was a different matter. At the moment, the only priority was to find Alice and get her back before she gets hurt.

On his journey to the shop, Ed had been trying to work out why the homunculus, Envy, would kidnap Alice. After all, she wasn't anything special really, apart from the fact that Alice wasn't the only person who was living in the blonde's body. Unless, it wasn't Alice that Envy was after Edward concluded, assuming that this other girl inhabiting Alice had something the homunculus wanted. He decided that had to be it. Or, possibly Envy could be trying to find a way to get to the Elric brothers, but why bother taking the time to sneak into a hospital and snatch a girl that they had only known for a short time when the sin could have taken someone who they have known for years, and not have to go through as much trouble into catching them either. So, that couldn't have been it, yet it was a possibility.

Edward's brows furrowed as he scowled down at the table. We'll find out soon enough, Envy won't have his hands on Alice for long...

"So, boys, are you going to tell me what this is all about?" Izumi asked sternly, sending the boys glares as they wearily glanced up at her. Bringing her elbows upon the table, she weaved her fingers together and rested her lips against them as she eyed the brothers.

Ed and Al looked over at each other, as if making an agreement physically before saying anything to their teacher. In unison, the brothers glanced over at the bag in the middle of the table, before they finally spoke to their teacher.

"Sorry, teacher, I don't think that we should tell you now" Al whispered, his hands fidgeting as Izumi's glare hardened.

"And why not?" She snapped, diverting her gaze onto Edward.

Sighing, Ed lifted his eyes to meet hers, despite how much he really didn't want to at the moment in time. "Because, Al and I really shouldn't be here talking to you teacher- with all due respect. We should be out there, finding out where Alice is..."

Izumi arched a brow. "Alice?"

"Yeah, she's the girl brother and I have to escort Sunkolic, so she can get on a ship out of the country... but..." Al looked down at the ground, unable to find the words to finish his sentence.

Unravelling her pale fingers, Izumi hoisted herself up from her seat and walked over to the brothers. There was a long, silent pause as Izumi looked down at her students, arms crossed over her chest. None of the Elric's dared to look up at their teacher, keeping their faces down at the ground as her shadow fell on top of them.

They really didn't want to be there, they wanted to be out and searching for their lost girl. However, they knew that their teacher had the right to understand the situation and interpret it how she wanted. But the brothers already had their hearts set and they didn't want their teacher to get into a situation she wasn't meant to be or originally in. It was up to Ed and his brother, it wasn't their teacher's burden.

Unless she went and made it her burden.

With a long sigh, Izumi lifted a hand to her forehead. "You boys, honestly... Do what you please" She muttered. Ed and Al looked up at her gratefully. Izumi scowled. "Don't think you've gotten out of this, you'll tell me exactly what's going on later and I'm going to come with you"

The brother's stiffened. "E-Excuse me teacher?!" Al squeaked, sending a worried look at the older women.

"No buts, excuses no nothing. Clearly this girl is in trouble and it's thanks to my students" She barked, causing Al to shrink back into his seat. Edward narrowed his eyes and frowned deeply. Shaking her head, Izumi smiled at the boys. "Plus, someone has to make sure that you both don't get yourselves into anymore trouble, don't they?"

Ed smiled a little at this. He wasn't going to push his teacher out of this, after all, it'll be a lot easier to find Alice with more than just the two of them and he knew that his teacher could take care of herself if she needed to. But, if he gets wind of the homunculus's whereabouts, he'll make sure that his teacher doesn't come, he knew that it would be too dangerous and he doubted that she'd want the grief of having to put up with a homunculus after the incident with Wrath.

"Well, let's get going" Izumi said abruptly, stepping swiftly past the boys and towards the door. She paused as her hand wrapped around the handle, glancing over her shoulder at the brothers. "And don't forgot, you will explain everything to me once we find her"

---

_It was always late at night when the club would finish until the next day, however this day was different; the club didn't open at all. The runner of the travelling drama club, Clive Robinson, had fallen ill with a bad cold and was told that he had to rest for 24 hours before he was allowed to get up and about again. So, with the club shut, she had nothing to do for the day, except sit outside on the lawn of green until the blazing sun went down and she was called inside by her mother. _

_At first, moving into a new, gigantic gothic mansion seemed absolutely amazing to her at first. Monsters hiding under all of the unused beds. Mysterious basements leading into caverns deep underground. And an enormous, mysterious house to explore and play in for hours on end. It was paradise! Until she had found no monsters under the bed, no caverns and she knew the house inside out. From there on, life in the east began to become boring. Until Clive came with all those people from all over the place, doing a drama group and performances for the local folk. She loved that club with all of her being and even managed to convince her good friend and coach, Clive to stop by in the east a lot more often then he planned to. And he did, since he found that working with such an enthusiastic girl a privilege and also the audience in the east amazing too._

_The pulsing heat of the sun forced the little, blonde haired girl into the cool shade of the tall tree that stood proudly in her lawn. Sighing, she rested her back against the trunk of the tree and wrapped her small arms around her knees, pulling them close to her chest. _

_"It's so, so, so boring out here. I wish Clive would get better now!" She whined, her dotted cheeks going red with frustration. _

_"Hey, I know you!" She flinched at the sound of a voice. She glanced around, finding no one stood in her presence. Shaking her head, she pouted her lips and went to sulk again, when the voice called again. _

_"I'm up here, duh" Whipping her head up, the blonde gazed up into the weaving branches of the tree, finding a boy sat on one of them. He stared down at the blonde with wide, green eyes. He was dressed up in a brown cap, shorts, a white shirt and brown boots, giving Alice the impression that he wasn't from around her area. Jumping up onto her feet, Alice spun around on her heel and beamed up at the boy. _

_"Hi! I'm Alice! What's your name!? Wanna be friends!?Do you want to go and play hide and seek!? Or we could play pretend state alchemists! Or-"_

_The boy held up a hand, his balance weakening as he held himself on with only one palm. "Whoa, whoa. Slow down, you're going to hurt yourself" He shouted, running his fingers through the tuft of black hair that poked out from under his cap. Alice glanced down at herself, checking for cuts and grazes, finding nothing but undamaged skin and the baby blue dress she was in. _

_"I will?" She held her fists in front of her chest, looking up at the boy with worried eyes. "I'll get hurt if I go too fast!? What will I do!? What will happen if I gets a hurtie!? What if-"_

_"I said slow down!" The boy snapped. At that moment, he lost his balance and slide off the tree. He landed on his front with a thud, his chin bouncing off the grass and his eyes clenched shut. Groaning, he rolled onto his back and stared up at the branch he had fallen off, curses filling up his mind as he glared at it. That is, until a bright face, with sparkling blue eyes and shoulder-length straw-like hair came into view. He yelped and shot up like a bullet, sitting on his rear and panting hard. Wincing, he wrapped both of his arms around his stomach and hunched over. The blonde girl tilted her head to the side. _

_"I think you went too fast, mister" She commented, getting a growl off the boy. _

_"It's nothing... I'm fine" He mumbled, lifting himself up onto his feet, slowly. "I'm seven, I can handle it"_

_Alice pouted, pointing a finger at her lower lip. "Wow, you're old..."_

_The boy shot his head around to see her, glaring harshly. "That's not old!"_

_"I'm only four..." Alice said idly, not noticing the boy's glare on her. She seemed to ponder something for a moment, before she hopped over to the boy, standing before him, hands behind her back. "So, what's Mr. Tree Faller's name?"_

_The boy looked taken aback. "Mr. Tree what?"_

_Alice giggled and stole one of the boy's hands, dragging him along behind herself as she skipped across the lush grass. "Hurry! Hurry!"_

_"Hurry!? For what!?" He snapped, trying to snatch his hand back, failing miserably. _

_Alice glanced over her shoulder, grinning madly. "I have to go home when the sun is turned off, so we have to play now whilst we still can!"_

_"You've got to be kidding me..." _

_---_

Alice's eyes flipped open, greeted by darkness straight away. Moaning, she rubbed her eyes, tucking in her elbows after they bumped into something hard. She couldn't remember when she had fallen to sleep or even what had happened before she had, everything was just an empty void to her. Pulling her hands from her eyes, she whimpered. "Mr. Phantom Armour Guy... Mr. Robot, why ish the light offeth?" She whispered, not getting a sound from anything except the turning of metallic wheels. She was on the train. Or, at least she guessed that she was, she couldn't tell since it was dark.

Patting her hands around, Alice began to find out where she was and why it was so dark. She found something hard, straight and wooden in front of herself. The same behind. On the left, it was the same wooden surface. And on her right, it was the same.

Alice's mouth dropped open and her eyes began to fill up with water. Panicked, she swung her hands up, hoping to find an opening. However, her fists both slammed against another bit of wood, they only difference being that it was a much shorter surface than the others. Suddenly, Alice felt something stab into the side of her palm, yelping she brought her hand down in front of her face, her other hand holding onto her wrist. Something warm and wet tickled at her skin as it poured out from the throbbing area. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she found a small puncture in her hand, fresh, dark blood oozing out of it. Gradually, she released her wrist and brought the healthy hand up above her head, finding her finger tips prodding the end of a thin, sharp nail end.

And that was when she knew for sure, that she was trapped. Trapped in a wooden box.

Her body began to shake violently as she stared into the black before her, managing to just see some of the wood work. "Mr. Robot... Mr. Phantom Armour Guy..."

Suddenly, she slammed both hands on the planks of wood that stood on either side of her and began to kick hard at the base of her box. "Mr. Phantom Armour Guy! Mr. Robot!" She kicked harder at the wood. However, she forced herself to a stop kicking after the cut in her hand began to throb harder and she realised that there hard to be nails down there too. Clutching onto her hand and bringing it to her chest, Alice sank down as far as she could in the box, her breathing hitched and eyes burning from crying.

"I don't like this place, I wanna go home" She breathed, biting her lip as she tried to swallow the pain beating in her hand. "I wanna go-"

The wheels suddenly screeched loudly and Alice fell forward, ramming into the edge of her box as the train pulled to an immediate halt. After a moment, a sound of feet padded their way closer and closer towards her box and even though she was already clad in darkness, Alice could feel the shadow loom over her.

"We can't forget the luggage, can we?" A voice sang from the outside, sending shivers down Alice's spine. As Alice felt her box unexpectedly start to move, she couldn't help the feeling in her gut that she wasn't going to like the next events and that she was further from "Mr. Robot and Mr. Phantom Armour Guy" than she hoped she was.

---

**A moment with Clive:** Clive in Wonderland: Part Two

"Ughh... Me aching head" I moaned as my eyes fluttered open. Wait. Fluttered? That didn't sound too right...

With a shrug, I pushed myself up onto my palms, shaking my head rapidly, my hair whipping sharply against my cheeks. Was my hair really that long? I must learn to go to get it cut more.

I soon found that the world around me was a lot more different from my cosy, loveable study of scripts and plans for drama lessons. No. Instead, I found myself in a forest. The trees all loomed high over me, acting more as menacing dark shadows rather than lush green vegetation. I squinted my eyes at I tried to catch a glimpse of the sky above, only to find that the natural roof that tree tops created blocked over every scrap of evidence that there even was a sky. It was then that I caught a whiff of a bizarre scent in the air. It smelt of mushrooms, cakes or tarts possibly and a faint smell of tea bags to add to it. I arched a brow, my eyes wondering down to the large, colourful mushrooms that stood in small groups of the base of some of the trees.

"OK... This joke has gone a little too far now, what did they do? Alchemize me to a magical forest? Bah..." I moaned, gathering myself onto my feet. I brushed myself down, clearing all the muck from the floor from my clothes. As I finished dusting off the black bow-tie that wrapped around my neck, I moved onto my trousers, not wanting them to be covered in filth too. However, there was a problem. I wasn't in my trousers anymore. Nay. I was in a... in a...

My eye twitched and a sweat drop rolled down the back of my head as I looked down. Yes, I really was in a skirt. And on my journey looking downward, I found something strange and unwelcomed to me, poking out of my chest. I then laughed, placing my hands on my hips. "Oh, ha-ha! Very funn-" My voice. It that my voice!? It so high pitched and-and-and... girly! How did I not notice it before!?

Panicking, I clasped my hands over my mouth, finding my lips a lot fuller than normal. On top of that, I felt long finger nails scrape against my skin. I can't be... I couldn't be... I gulped hard as I looked back down at my chest.

"There's only one way to find out..." I breathed. Sucking in a gallon of mushroom smelling air, I moved my hands from my lips and grasped the... well yeah, on my chest. I squeaked. They were real.

"HOLY!" I shrieked. Hopping back, I tripped over a root that stuck out of the ground and landed clean on my back, facing up with wide, wide, wide eyes. "This can't be happening... This can't be happening... This can't be-"

"What's this?"

"Ew, what is it?"

I blinked at the sound of two voices from nearby. Glancing down my new... um... frame, I found two red-headed children looking curiously at me. Whisking myself up onto my knees, I squealed at them.

"I HAVE MUFFINS ON MY CHEST! HELP ME!"

The two red-heads, one boy and one girl, both screamed at me and the boy jumped up into the girl's arms, looking down horrified at me.

Oh joy, this was going to be a bundle of laughs. After all, I have just been alchemized into a woman, what else could make my day any worse?

To be continued...

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Well, that took me a bit to write but oh well. Doesn't Clive look like he's having fun?

Please Review X.


	15. Demands

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A any other characters and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

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**Chapter Fourteen: Demands**

They had searched every nook and cranny they could think of in Dublith, finding no trace of Alice at all. Ed, Al and Izumi had all split up and searched again and again, one time Izumi even held up a train to check it before its departure. Still nothing. After a few, long hours, the three of them regrouped outside of the train station, all baring no news of the girl's whereabouts.

"So, no one found anything at all, not even a strand of hair?" Izumi said sternly, glancing at the two brothers, who both shook their heads. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Clearly this is going to take a while" She muttered, frowning at the end.

"You don't think that she's been taken out of Dublith?" Al suggested, looking up at Izumi. His teacher shrugged and shook her head, her eyes slid shut.

"I don't know, Alphonse. I checked a train before it left, but I don't think they'll be letting me do that again. And, if she was taken out of Dublith, surely someone would have spotted her, I've been asking around a lot of people" She explained, dropping her hand from her forehead and looked the brothers in the eye.

Ed had been looking down at his feet the whole time, his teeth bared and fists clenched. He knew for a fact that Envy more than likely would have taken Alice somewhere else, probably somewhere far out of reach too.

"Have any of you checked on Yock Island yet?" Izumi asked, keeping her attention focused on the older brother. Upon feeling her gaze on him, Ed glanced up from behind his hair and shook his head solemnly. "So then, we haven't searched everywhere" Izumi whispered, lifting her finger up to her chin. "There's a possibility that she might be there, since people rarely go there"

With a sigh, Ed shook his head again. "No, teacher, she won't be"

Izumi arched a brow at the boy. "Oh, why not Edward?"

"Because it's too easy. The one who took her would have taken her out of Dublith, somewhere far away, or maybe even just up to Rush Valley or something. She won't be on the island" He told her, his voice quiet and raspy. Al looked down at his brother and nodded in agreement.

"He's right teacher, it's doubtful that she'll still be here. We'll have to go out of Dublith to find her" Al looked up from his brother and to his teacher. Izumi was glaring at the boys, not looking at all happy about the brothers leaving so soon.

"Are you sure?" She questioned, sending each of the brothers a quick look. Ed lifted his head up, brushing his golden hair from his eyes.

"Yes" He breathed. Izumi planted her hands on her hips and stared at Edward for a while. He was frowning at her, trying to make his face strong as her eyes locked with his own. However, as Izumi stared into those golden eyes, she could see how both helpless and determined the Elric felt at the moment. And she knew that even she couldn't change his mind now.

---

Alice wasn't too sure how long she had been trapped in the wooden box for, however she knew that it was longer than expected – or at least it felt that way. Every now and then she would hear three different voices from the other side of the walls, although she didn't understand what they were talking about at all; something about some "alchemic experiment" or something. She never knew much about alchemy and never took it to heart to even think about it, having fun and travelling with Clive was how she wanted to live and that was that. But she didn't expect nor desire to be where she was now, she figured that much out.

After a while of being dragged around some busy sounding place, Alice began to realise that she must have been coming to her destination as the business of the place outside seemed to die down and eventually only the three voices of those who took her around could reach her ears.

The blonde curled up in a ball and pushed herself into the corner of the box as far as she could, her hands rubbing her arms as she felt the cold rush through her. It was then that she heard something creak and snap above her. Tilting her head back, Alice gazed up to see the roof of her box being torn apart, allowing rays of light to pour into the darkness where she sat.

For a while Alice only saw at the white ceiling of the room she was now in through the freshly made hole, until a head poked into view and stared down at the girl in the box. The face of a boy, who seemed to be about seventeen-ish with pale skin –such a colour that it made him look almost ill- and wild, green hair. Blue eyes locked with violet ones and then the boy grinned down at her, a row of pointed teeth gleaming in the light.

At that moment, Alice felt her heart freeze. She was certain that she had seen this person before, although she wasn't sure where. He seemed unnatural to her, like he shouldn't be there, a ghost. The only reason she felt this way was because something deep inside of her told her that something was missing from him, something that made him, well, human.

Alice shuffled as far from him as possible, only ending up pushing herself further into the wooden wall behind her. He snickered and reached into the box, palm outstretched, ready to grab her. She didn't move and only allowed her eyes to stare in panic as his hand came closer to her. Within seconds his fingers had tangled themselves into locks of white-blonde hair and his palm nested on her head. His hand remained there for a while, almost as if he was making sure that he had hold of her, and then he yanked hard, hauling her upright by her hair.

The young blonde girl squeaked as she was pulled up, her eyes clenching shut as the boy yanked on her hair again, obviously wanting her to come out of the box. _Where's Mr. Phantom Armour Guy!? Mr. Robot! Where are they!? I don't like this!_ Her mind screamed and screamed as she felt herself falling for the fact that they weren't around to help her now and how the boy dragging her up wasn't going to be the best person for her to be around. She was defenceless and childish; having nothing to offer for them, why pick on her?

"Let me go! I don't wanna be here! I want to see Mr. Phantom Armour Guy! Please mister!" She squealed as the box tipped to the side and she was forced out of it. She fell onto all fours and felt the boy's palm lift from her head but his fingers were still trapped in her long hair.

"Too bad, they're not here brat. Now shut up" The boy snarled, finally releasing her and marching off somewhere. "It was annoying enough just bringing you away from the pipsqueak, I don't want to hear your frequent whining too" He told her smoothly as he perched himself down on the edge of a bed that sat in the room.

Alice lifted her body up so she sat back on her calves, holding the hand that she had harmed in the box close to her chest, the fingers of her other hand wrapping around the wound that still held a pulse to it yet had stopped bleeding. Her shoulders bounced up and down and her lips trembled. She then began to cry, loudly. Curling over, Alice brought her body as close to itself as possible as tears rolled down her cheeks and she wailed with great sound and pitch. From the bed, the boy sighed and frowned strongly. He really couldn't understand why he was stuck with such an annoying brat until his colleagues came back and he could leave her for them to keep an eye on and he could get some freedom. But this was probably going to take some time and being stuck in a small hotel room with her crying wasn't going to help, especially if someone else heard.

"What did I just say!?" He barked, clenching his fists and baring his teeth at her. Frightening her would work, he had decided. Alice didn't seem to listen to him as she continued to cry, getting louder and louder. Soon enough someone would get suspicious, he knew it. Heaving up from where he sat, he strode over the splintered wood flooring and debris of the wooden box towards her, fists shaking furiously by his sides. He didn't stop walking until his shadow had fallen completely over her and she had managed to look up at him with her blue, fearful eyes.

Planting his hands on his hips, he leaned down and stuck his face in hers. "If you make another noise, I swear that it'll be the last you ever make. Do you know why?" He finished the question with a malicious glint of the eye and a toothy grin. Alice shuffled away from him and shook her head, her mouth hung open yet made no sound as she stared up at the boy's gleaming violet eyes. He held up a finger and pressed it against her nose, as if trying to create an innocent connection with her. "I'll take your little mouth and rip it from your little face, OK?"

Clearly the girl didn't need to be told twice as her lips clamped shut and she nodded wildly. Smiling sweetly, her pulled away from her and stepped back over to the spot he had claimed on the edge of the bed. "Oh, and one more thing," he said, holding his finger up in the air as a though had occurred to him, "don't call me "Mr. Whatever you think of", my name is Envy. Got that? Envy. Call me any other name and I'll remember that little promise we just made, if you catch my drift" The boy, Envy glanced back over his shoulder, finding the girl staring at him wide-eyed. A smirk pulled across his face as he stopped by the bed, staring at it with his hands on his hips.

"Brat, come over here" He said in a monotone, Alice looked at him warily as he peered over his shoulder at her. "You'll be tired and need some rest for our next trip, so get some sleep" He continued, beckoning her over with his hand. Hesitantly, Alice hovered up to her feet, still holding her hand close to her chest. She went to walk over to him until a thought struck her mind and she leaned over the edge of the box, reaching inside. Envy folded his arms and tapped his foot impatiently as she pulled back from the box, a small, rather rough looking teddy bear held close to her as she timidly made her way over. Alice felt his evil eyes follow her as she came to the bedside and lifted the cream covers up and hopping into the bed, lying on the side away from Envy.

"Good girl. I'm going out for a while, you stay here and don't bother trying to escape, because I will find you and you will know about it, understood?" He told her firmly, watching her as she curled up in the bed and nodded against the fluffy, white pillows. He stared at her for a while as she closed her eyes and forcefully tried to get her body to sleep. After he was sure that she wasn't even thinking about running away, he stormed out of the room, not even giving the girl a second glance as he slammed the door shut and locked it behind him.

Alice stared solemnly at the window as the blue sky glowed outside as the sun rolled across it. "What did I do, Mr. Snincklepot? I-I didn't upset Mr. Robot or anyone did I? I-I don't like it... I want my daddy and brothers and s-sisters" She sobbed, rubbing her cheek against the bear's head. A smile came across her face as she felt the soft skin of the bear rub against her own. The teddy bear had always made her comfortable and she always remembered how she got it.

---

_"Oh man, I can't believe that I've been dragged into this by a kid!" He moaned loudly, resting the palm of his hand on his forehead. The boy in the cap had been pulled away from Alice's front garden and all the way out into the unfamiliar Eastern streets. They had been wondering around aimlessly, Alice occasionally stopping by a toy and/or sweet shop, asking him if he would buy her something – which was out of the question, he had no money at all, not on him anyway. On top of that, he was forced into playing pretend state alchemists with her, having to go down the streets, drawing invisible transmutation circles with sticks and pretending to have a silver pocket watch that got them to places they wanted to go._

_But still, he couldn't say that he wasn't enjoying himself; it was better than sitting in a tree and watching the world go by all day. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he watched the young blonde skip ahead of him, sometimes stopping to wave at other kids her age that she obviously knew. Tilting his head up towards the cloudless sky, he found that the sun had finally started to go down and that meant his day would soon conclude. After all, playing pretend alchemists for hours on end did start to get tedious for him. _

_"Come on! Let's go and help those people trapped in that broken house!" Alice chirped, pointing at the empty space before her. He froze on the cobbled roads, looking down at Alice as she grinned at him and spread her arms out to the sides and glided over to the place where the "people were in need of rescue". "Hurry up Talon, or they'll be hurted!" She cried, pretending to help someone up and then drew another imaginary circle on the ground._

_Talon shook his head and jogged over to her, also pretending to help a few people to their feet and send them away from trouble. Alice giggled and then soared down the street again, only narrowly missing a woman carrying some bread as she made her way down the road. Talon went to chase after her, until he noticed where he was. He was stood at the mouth of a bridge that crossed over a stream that ran down one side of the street, opposing the small houses on the other. There, by the rocks next to the shimmering water sat a brown teddy bear. He smirked. "This'll shut her up if we go by any other toy shops!" He announced to himself and began to scramble down the grassy bank towards the water's edge. Standing by the stream he glanced around, looking for something to reach over to the bear on the other side and bring it to him. The only thing that was there was a small tree with several, thick branches that reached over the water. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to snap any off, he decided to climb up the tree and hold onto a branch, dangling above the water. Like a monkey, Talon swung his hands forward one at a time and made his way closer to the bear that sat amongst the rocks._

_"Almost there!" He muttered, swinging his legs back and forth, ready to throw himself over to the other side. However, just as his fingers slipped from holding onto the branch, a high-pitched voice called for him. "TALON WHERE ARE YOU!?" Alice cried, distracting the boy and causing him to drop dead into the shallow water instead of landing clean on the other side. _

_Talon cursed as he landed on his rear in the water, making the splash big enough to soak both himself and a person sat on his shoulders. "Oh there you are!" Alice yelled from the top of the bank, beaming at the boy down in the water. She then pouted and tilted her head innocently to one side. "Why are you all wet?" _

_"WHY DO YOU THINK!? I JUST FELL INTO THIS STREAM NO THNAKS TO YOU!" He yelled, his cheeks going bright red in anger as he glared at the girl. Alice whimpered and backed up from the bank, almost out of sight until Talon shouted her again. "Wait! I've got something for you!" He called, lifting his body up from the water and jogging over to the bear he was after. Grabbing the bear, he spun around and marched across the stream and up the bank again, feeling the weight of his clothes as he walked up to Alice. "Here" He grumbled, holding the bear out by the neck before her. Not a second later did Alice's face brighten up and she snatched the bear from Talon's fingers. _

_"Wow-wee! I love him, what's his name!?" Alice bounced up and down on the spot, holding the bear high in the air. _

_Snorting, Talon stuffed his hands in his pockets. "How should I know? It's not going to be something daft like "Mr. Snincklepot" is it?"_

_"Oh, that's a good name!" Alice grinned as Talon sent her a strange look. As Alice flickered her eyes from Talon and back to her bear again, she had noticed how low the sun was in the sky by now. "Oh no... It's time for me to go home and see mummy and daddy now" She muttered, twirling around to Talon, her little blue dress flowing out as she did. "I haveth to go now! But don't worry, we can play again tomorrow and Mr. Snincklepot can come too" She giggled and held the bear up in Talon's face. The boy opened his mouth, about to refuse the girl's offer only for her to turn and then skip away from him at a rather fast pace. "BYE BYE!" She squealed as she made her way home again. _

_Talon shook his head and turned in the opposite direction to Alice, about to walk off into the streets, when he suddenly remembered that he couldn't find his way out of this place. "HEY! COME BACK I DON'T KNOW WHERE I'M GOING!"_

_----_

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The mansion had been deathly silent all day without the presence of the young daughter to wonder about the enormous house and go in search of the treasure that was apparently there. Without her there the dark corridors of the house were completely barren as the two occupants remained in their two rooms and did not shift all day, not that one of them could really. Carol Anderson had been bed-ridden since she could remember and depended on different remedies in order to keep her eyes open, the ones her husband would always make for her in his study.

_Sitting up in her bed, the young woman scanned the pages of a rather fascinating book as the stripped sheets sat folded at her knees. The rays of the setting sun filtered through the tall windows and pooled onto the stone floor, releasing the cold sensation that one would always feel in the room. As she turned over to the next page, the door to her bedroom was flung open and her daughter stood there with a wide grin on her speckled face. A warm smile crossed across the mother's face as she felt great relief and joy in seeing her daughter. _

_"Hello mumzy!" Alice greeted, skipping over to her mother's bedside. The young girl had every likeness of her mother, from the almost white hair to the shape of her button nose. Seeing Carol was like looking into the future or seeing Alice was like looking into the past they were so alike, the only difference being the freckled cheeks that she had inherited from her father when he was younger. _

_"Hello darling, how are you today? Oh and I see you've brought a friend too" Carol said in her typical caring tone as she helped pull her daughter up onto the bed. Alice passed her mother the teddy bear and rested her hands on her knees, her short legs swinging back and forth. _

_"His name is Mr. Snincklepot. My new friend Talon got him for me and I thought that it'd make mummy get better if she had a teddy bear to sleep with on a night when daddy's working on mummy's medicine!" Alice sang breathlessly, panting at the end in order to pay off her pricey oxygen debt._

_Carol smiled gratefully at her daughter. "Thank you, that's very nice of you. I'll make sure to tuck him in tightly every night, just for you" She told Alice, rubbing her nose against her daughters. Alice giggled, turning her head away from her mother, hoping to save her nose only for Carol to keep rubbing her nose against Alice's spotted cheeks. "Te-he! It tickles, stop it" Alice squirmed, lifting up her tiny hands to try and push her mother away. _

_Suddenly, the door was flung open and a man stood there, panting hard as he held a glass vial in hand. A smile then curled across his lips and he pushed his brown bangs from his glistening eyes. "Phew, I thought she didn't make it home for a minute there" _

_Alice jumped from the bed and ran to the man, arms stretched open. "Daddy!" She yelled, wrapping her arms around his legs, creasing his dark trousers. The man chuckled and crouched down, bringing his daughter into his arms and lifting her up. "Hello angel, how are you today, did you have fun?" His smile stretched as Alice nodded wildly. _

_"Oh, yes, yes. I played pretend state alchemists today and I saved a bunch of people Daddy!" _

_"Did you? If you come to my study with me you can tell me all about it then can't you? I just need to give mummy her medicine and we'll be on our way, OK?" He cheered as he stepped over to Carol's bed, still holding onto Alice who really didn't seem to want to let go of her father. _

_The man passed his wife the vial, who took it from him with a bitter smile. "Thank you dear"_

_"Don't forget to only sip it, if you drink it straight down you'll be sick"_

_"Yes I know, don't worry and go back to your study. Alice has lots of stories to tell you"_

_Mr. Anderson smiled and looked down at the child in his arms. "Well then, we better get going then, huh?" _

_Alice laughed and nodded eagerly, her legs kicking out with excitement. "I've got so much to tell you!" Alice yelled as her father turned and made his way out of the room."Oh, really? Well why don't you start telling me now then?"_

_"OK! Well first I met this boy who..." The pair's voices faded away as the door shut behind them and they made their way down the corridor and to Mr. Anderson's study. Carol sighed and swirled around the gluey, green liquid that sat in the vial. Turning to her side, Carol reached under her bed and pulled out the bowl that sat beneath, almost filled to the brim with the same liquid. Lifelessly, she tilted the vial and allowing the liquid to pour into the bowl before sliding it under her bed again. It was lucky that the medicine was odourless, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten away with this, it was the same every time she had to take it. _

_Resting down into her pillows, Carol allowed her eyes to slide shut. "... I'm sorry"_

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I finally did it! I had this chapter started ages ago and now I finally managed to finish it! Boo-yah!

Clive's wonderful adventure will be continuing in the next chapter.

Please review X.


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